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UN Security Council debates Gaza violence

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-01 11:52

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council met in emergency session on Wednesday to discuss the violence in Gaza, and an Arab draft resolution demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Israeli soldiers stand atop a tank outside the central Gaza Strip December 30, 2008. [Agencies]

The evening session adjourned without a vote and diplomats said negotiations would be held in coming days over the draft, which Western delegates described as unbalanced and focusing almost entirely on Israel's actions.

The resolution, presented by Libya, called for "an immediate ceasefire and for its full respect by both sides." It also demanded protection for Palestinian civilians, opening of border crossings into Gaza and "restoration of calm in full."

It denounced "the excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by Israel" but its only mention of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants on Israel was a vague reference to "the deterioration of the situation in southern Israel."

"It's going to need a lot of work," one Western diplomat said of the resolution.

The council issued a statement on Sunday, which lacks the weight of a resolution, calling for a halt to the violence in Gaza. But the United States says any ceasefire must be durable and binding on the Hamas Islamists who control Gaza, as well as on Israel.

Israel, which began air strikes on Gaza on Saturday to try to stamp out the Palestinian rocket fire, has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire. Nearly 400 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed so far.

Following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, an Arab ministerial delegation is expected to arrive in New York early next week to press the Arab case on Gaza at the United Nations, diplomats said. They suggested a vote would not take place before then.

British Ambassador John Sawers told reporters he believed a balanced resolution would have "a good chance of support" in the council.

But Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the best approach was to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to end the fighting, then enshrine it in a resolution rather than the council trying to impose a ceasefire.