UN calls for Gaza ceasefire
BY ABU IDRISU:
The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after holding an emergency closed-door meeting on the crisis.
The urgent talks came after Ban Ki-moon described Israel’s shelling of a Gaza City suburb as “an atrocious action”.
Sunday was the deadliest day of fighting, with 13 Israeli soldiers and more than 100 Palestinians killed.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Cairo on Monday to discuss the crisis with Egyptian leaders.
The UN Security Council met at the request of Jordan, which is understood to have proposed a strongly worded draft resolution for consideration.
However, members could only agree on “elements to the press,” the weakest form of Security Council action, says the BBC’s UN correspondent Nick Bryant.
Eugene Gasana, Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN, said members had voiced their alarm at the escalation of violence during a “sobering session”.
They also expressed “serious concern” at rising casualty numbers and called for “the respect of international humanitarian law, including protection of civilians,” Gasana added.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict were stepped up as the number of Palestinians killed since the start of Israel’s offensive two weeks ago passed 500.
More than 60 Palestinians alone were killed during heavy shelling in the Shejaiya district of Gaza, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling it “a massacre”.
He called for urgent talks, saying the “situation is intolerable” in Gaza and describing the Israeli attacks as “crimes against humanity.”
The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after holding an emergency closed-door meeting on the crisis.
The urgent talks came after Ban Ki-moon described Israel’s shelling of a Gaza City suburb as “an atrocious action”.
Sunday was the deadliest day of fighting, with 13 Israeli soldiers and more than 100 Palestinians killed.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Cairo on Monday to discuss the crisis with Egyptian leaders.
The UN Security Council met at the request of Jordan, which is understood to have proposed a strongly worded draft resolution for consideration.
However, members could only agree on “elements to the press,” the weakest form of Security Council action, says the BBC’s UN correspondent Nick Bryant.
Eugene Gasana, Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN, said members had voiced their alarm at the escalation of violence during a “sobering session”.
They also expressed “serious concern” at rising casualty numbers and called for “the respect of international humanitarian law, including protection of civilians,” Gasana added.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict were stepped up as the number of Palestinians killed since the start of Israel’s offensive two weeks ago passed 500.
More than 60 Palestinians alone were killed during heavy shelling in the Shejaiya district of Gaza, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling it “a massacre”.
He called for urgent talks, saying the “situation is intolerable” in Gaza and describing the Israeli attacks as “crimes against humanity.”
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