UN General Assembly
1997

tests, as they could lead to the resumption of the nuclear arms race and its attendant risk of global disaster. Meanwhile, in South-East Asia, the South-East Asia Nuclear- Weapon-Free Zone Treaty came into force earlier this year. We hope that the nuclear-weapon States will also contribute to regional security by their timely accession to the relevant Protocol of the Treaty. In the Middle East we are witnessing a continuing escalation in Israeli provocative acts. Israel's encroachments on East Jerusalem, especially in Jabal Abu Ghneim, have plunged the peace process into deeper crisis and triggered unrest and tension on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel persists in its illegal construction activities, in blockading Palestinian territory and besieging Palestinian cities and towns and in withholding funds belonging to the Palestinian Authority. The imposition of a harsh regimen of collective punishment contravenes all international legal norms and principles and violates the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people. We must therefore vigorously support all efforts to restore the momentum of the peace process and to bring about the resumption of negotiations based