Mahmoud Abbas
January 07, 2009
PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas has pressed the UN Security Council to call for an "immediate and full cessation of Israeli aggression" in the Gaza Strip and for the lifting of the "suffocating siege" of the territory.
“I call on the council to take the first necessary step to save my people in Gaza: a resolution calling for an immediate full cessation of Israeli aggression,” he told the 15-member body in New York on the 11th day of an Israeli military invasion that has claimed 660 Palestinian lives in Gaza, including about 200 children, local medics say.
Israeli troops kept up their assault on Hamas fighters in Gaza today as diplomats sought to persuade Israel to end its action.
And Barack Obama finally broke his silence on the issue, saying: "The loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern for me."
An air strike killed a Palestinian gunman and wounded three in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood, where some of the heaviest fighting has occurred since Israeli troops invaded the crowded coastal strip on Saturday, medics said.
Clashes were continuing in Zeitun, and there were reports of air strikes on the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah.
The latest fighting follows Israeli strikes yesterday on three UN-run schools that killed at least 48 people, taking the civilian death toll even higher and prompting growing calls for an immediate ceasefire.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply dismayed” by the strikes on the schools and called them “totally unacceptable”.
While the UN Security Council discussed the crisis in New York, Egypt's president and veteran Middle East peace mediator, Hosni Mubarak, was pushing for an immediate ceasefire.
He called on Israel and the Palestinians to discuss security on the Egypt-Gaza border, following talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Egypt “invites the Israelis and Palestinians for an urgent meeting to reach arrangements and guarantees that would not allow the repeat of the current escalation,” Mr Mubarak said.
Such guarantees would include “securing the borders and ... opening of the border crossings and lifting the siege,” he said.
Mr Mubarak also said he proposed an immediate ceasefire that would allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian-Israeli talks.
Mr Sarkozy, who began a whirlwind tour of the region on Monday, said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about Mr Mubarak's initiative and that “he will react soon”.
“I have very precise elements that allow me to say that an Israeli delegation will meet an Egyptian delegation to discuss the matter of security,” he said.
Mr Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the UN Security Council presidency, said a resolution on Gaza would “complicate” the task of achieving peace.
A Hamas delegation is already in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire.
Egypt brokered a six-month truce that ended on December 19. Hamas refused to renew the deal, accusing Israel of reneging on it by not relaxing the crippling blockade of Gaza it first imposed when the Islamists seized control of the territory in 2007.
Mr Olmert earlier said the “terrorist” rocket attacks and weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza must end before Israel halts its offensive on the Palestinian territory.
Mr Ban said he would travel to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories next week.
Protests against Israel have spiralled worldwide, and Al-Qa'ida deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to attack Israeli and Western targets in revenge for the offensive.
Israel has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but Mr Olmert's office announced today that the Jewish state would open a “humanitarian corridor” into the territory.
“This involves opening up geographical areas for limited periods of time during which the population will be able to receive the aid and stock up,” his office said.
International Committee of the Red Cross operations director Pierre Kraehenbuehl said earlier that “there is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full-blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic.”
PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas has pressed the UN Security Council to call for an "immediate and full cessation of Israeli aggression" in the Gaza Strip and for the lifting of the "suffocating siege" of the territory.
“I call on the council to take the first necessary step to save my people in Gaza: a resolution calling for an immediate full cessation of Israeli aggression,” he told the 15-member body in New York on the 11th day of an Israeli military invasion that has claimed 660 Palestinian lives in Gaza, including about 200 children, local medics say.
Israeli troops kept up their assault on Hamas fighters in Gaza today as diplomats sought to persuade Israel to end its action.
And Barack Obama finally broke his silence on the issue, saying: "The loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern for me."
An air strike killed a Palestinian gunman and wounded three in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood, where some of the heaviest fighting has occurred since Israeli troops invaded the crowded coastal strip on Saturday, medics said.
Clashes were continuing in Zeitun, and there were reports of air strikes on the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah.
The latest fighting follows Israeli strikes yesterday on three UN-run schools that killed at least 48 people, taking the civilian death toll even higher and prompting growing calls for an immediate ceasefire.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply dismayed” by the strikes on the schools and called them “totally unacceptable”.
While the UN Security Council discussed the crisis in New York, Egypt's president and veteran Middle East peace mediator, Hosni Mubarak, was pushing for an immediate ceasefire.
He called on Israel and the Palestinians to discuss security on the Egypt-Gaza border, following talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Egypt “invites the Israelis and Palestinians for an urgent meeting to reach arrangements and guarantees that would not allow the repeat of the current escalation,” Mr Mubarak said.
Such guarantees would include “securing the borders and ... opening of the border crossings and lifting the siege,” he said.
Mr Mubarak also said he proposed an immediate ceasefire that would allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian-Israeli talks.
Mr Sarkozy, who began a whirlwind tour of the region on Monday, said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about Mr Mubarak's initiative and that “he will react soon”.
“I have very precise elements that allow me to say that an Israeli delegation will meet an Egyptian delegation to discuss the matter of security,” he said.
Mr Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the UN Security Council presidency, said a resolution on Gaza would “complicate” the task of achieving peace.
A Hamas delegation is already in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire.
Egypt brokered a six-month truce that ended on December 19. Hamas refused to renew the deal, accusing Israel of reneging on it by not relaxing the crippling blockade of Gaza it first imposed when the Islamists seized control of the territory in 2007.
Mr Olmert earlier said the “terrorist” rocket attacks and weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza must end before Israel halts its offensive on the Palestinian territory.
Mr Ban said he would travel to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories next week.
Protests against Israel have spiralled worldwide, and Al-Qa'ida deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to attack Israeli and Western targets in revenge for the offensive.
Israel has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but Mr Olmert's office announced today that the Jewish state would open a “humanitarian corridor” into the territory.
“This involves opening up geographical areas for limited periods of time during which the population will be able to receive the aid and stock up,” his office said.
International Committee of the Red Cross operations director Pierre Kraehenbuehl said earlier that “there is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full-blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic.”
Source: The Australian from Agence France-Presse
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