United Nations Security Council Resolution 673 (1990)

Resolution 673 followed events on 8 October 1990, when violence took place at Jerusalem's Al-Haram al-Sharif and other holy sites. Resolution 672 recorded more than 20 Palestinian deaths and injuries to more than 150 people.[1] The Security Council adopted that resolution unanimously on 12 October. It condemned acts of violence committed by Israeli security forces, called on Israel to observe its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, welcomed the Secretary-General's decision to send a mission to the region, and requested a report containing his findings and conclusions before the end of October.[1]

Israel declined to receive the proposed mission, objecting that it would interfere with Israeli sovereignty and indicating that it would publish its own findings.[3] British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd urged Israel to find a way to accept the mission.[3] The Secretary-General briefed the Security Council on 19 October, five days before the Council adopted Resolution 673.[2][1]

Resolution 673 was adopted unanimously at the Council's 2,949th meeting on 24 October 1990.[1] Its preamble reaffirmed Member States' obligations under the UN Charter and reaffirmed Resolution 672. It expressed alarm at Israel's rejection of Resolution 672 and refusal to accept the Secretary-General's mission, while also voicing grave concern about the continued deterioration of the situation in the occupied territories.[2][1]

The resolution's first operative provision stated that the Council "deplores the refusal of the Israeli Government to receive the mission of the Secretary-General to the region."[2][1] It urged Israel to reconsider its decision, comply fully with Resolution 672, and permit the mission to proceed according to its purpose. The Council also requested the Secretary-General to submit the report called for under Resolution 672 and affirmed its determination to give the report full and expeditious consideration.[2][1]

The Council continued considering the subject after adopting Resolution 673. On 7 November 1990, it took up the Secretary-General's report submitted in accordance with Resolution 672, and on 8 December it continued its consideration of the question.[1] When the Security Council later adopted Resolution 681, its record expressed "grave concern over the rejection by Israel" of Resolutions 672 and 673, placing the two measures within the Council's continuing attention to the situation in the territories it described as occupied.[4]

Accounts of Resolution 673 preserve distinct institutional perspectives. The resolution text records the Security Council's position: it described Israel as having rejected Resolution 672, deplored the refusal to receive the mission, and expressed concern about deterioration in the occupied territories.[1] A contemporary report in The Times instead records Israel's stated sovereignty objection and its intention to issue its own findings.[3] These sources document the positions taken by the Council and Israel rather than independently resolving the underlying political and legal disagreements.

Israel objected to the Secretary-General's proposed mission on sovereignty grounds, regarding it as interference in Israeli affairs.[3] Rather than accepting the UN mission, Israel indicated that it would publish its own account of the 8 October events.[3] British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd urged Israel to find a way to receive the mission, while the Security Council proceeded to adopt Resolution 673 unanimously.[1][3]