Some at U.N. Draft New Measure on Palestinians

In a new U.N. Security Council resolution, a group of Arab and nonaligned nations Friday called for a U.N. observer force to monitor the treatment of Palestinians living in territories occupied by Israel and also for a conference of all 164 nations that signed the Fourth Geneva Convention.

As the resolution stands now, a U.S. veto would be likely, officials indicated.

But efforts are under way behind the scenes to modify the resolution’s wording as council members awaited a decision by U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar on whether to accept the invitation of Israel’s government to send an emissary to study the problems of Palestinians in the occupied territories.

A U.N. spokeswoman said Perez de Cuellar will make his views known when he returns from Paris on Tuesday. The secretary general conferred Friday in Paris with his special envoy, Jean-Claude Aime, on consultations that Aime held in New York with Israeli diplomats about the potential trip.

Israel has rejected a Security Council resolution calling for an investigation into violence Oct. 8 at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, during which 20 Palestinians were killed by police and security forces. But as a compromise, Israel agreed to accept a mission by Aime to discuss the treatment of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Israeli diplomats hope their offer will temper the resolution introduced Friday in the Security Council by Colombia, Cuba, Malaysia and Yemen. It calls for deploying military observers stationed at the Jerusalem headquarters of the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization into the occupied territories to monitor the situation and to report back to the secretary general and the Security Council.

The U.N. Truce Supervision Organization was established in 1948 to scrutinize a series of cease-fire agreements and armistices between Israel and Arab states.

But Israel has served notice in advance that it vigorously opposes an observer force, and U.S. diplomats said they could not vote for Friday’s resolution in its present form.

U.S. statements left the door open for negotiations over the weekend. There was considerable sentiment among council members for a proposal by Perez de Cuellar that the 164 nations that signed the Fourth Geneva Convention hold a new conference, probably in Geneva, to discuss ways of protecting Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories.

The Fourth Geneva Convention, covering the protection of civilians in areas occupied during a war, was signed Aug. 12, 1949.

The resolution submitted to the council demanded that Israel’s government accept the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention and scrupulously abide by its provisions. It endorsed the idea of convening a meeting of the document’s signers to discuss possible new measures to strengthen the convention.

Israel was among the original signers of the convention. However, it takes the position that it has sole responsibility, including the duty to maintain law and order, in territories it occupies.

Delegates from Malaysia, Libya, Syria and the Organization of the Islamic Conference all spoke in favor of the resolution during council debate Friday.

Observer Nasser Kidwa of the Palestine Liberation Organization indicated that some room exists for compromise on the new resolution, however.

He said agreement with the United States would be “difficult; nevertheless we don’t think it is impossible.” He stressed, “We are ready to negotiate with everybody.”

But the PLO observer added that monitoring by U.N. forces is an “essential factor” in the draft submitted to the council.