Obama and UN officially calls for unconditional cease-fire
The UN Security Council made a statement Monday urging Israel and Hamas to implement an unconditional humanitarian truce.
The statement comes after American president Barack Obama told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted a ceasefire during a call on Sunday.
The statement expresses strong support for “an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire, allowing for the delivery of urgently needed assistance” in Gaza, where Israel’s military offensive has entered its 21st day.
All 15 council members had agreed on the statement, diplomats said, and it would be formally adopted at a midnight meeting on Sunday.
The Security Council statement, drafted by Jordan, “urged all parties to accept and fully implement the humanitarian cease-fire into the Eid period and beyond” and “calls on parties to engage in efforts to achieve a durable and fully respected cease-fire, based on the Egyptian initiative.”
The council commended the efforts of US Secretary of State John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who spent last week in the Middle East trying to help broker an end to the fighting.
Some 1,031 Palestinians, mainly civilians and many of them children, have been killed in the 20-day conflict. Israel says 43 of its soldiers have died, along with three civilians killed by rocket and mortar fire out of the Mediterranean enclave.
The Security Council expressed “grave concern regarding the deterioration in the situation as a result of the crisis related to Gaza and the loss of civilian lives and casualties” and “reiterates the need to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and well-being of civilians and their protection.”
It “emphasizes that civilian and humanitarian facilities, including those of the UN, must be respected and protected.”
THE JERUSALEM POST
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