By KUNA
United Nations : A delegation of Arab envoys met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon late Tuesday to brief him on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and to urge him to intervene as Secretary-General of the world body and member of the Quartet.
Algerian envoy Youcef Yousfi, the Arab group’s current chairman, told reporters following the meeting that the delegation suggested to Ban to increase the UN role within the Quartet and invited him to visit Gaza to see for himself the suffering of the civilians due to the Israeli blockade.
Yousfi said Ban was positive, open-minded, and understanding and promised to examine the Arab request and informed the delegation that in the meantime, he decided to dispatch his top humanitarian coordinator John Holmes to visit Gaza February 14-17.
Palestinian envoy Riyadh Mansour told reporters Ban mandated his legal office to study the consequences resulting from the Israeli Court’s “illegal decision to continue to collectively punish the Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” Mansour added that Ban considers Gaza to be part of the occupied Palestinian territory, contrary to the Israeli claim that its forces withdraw from the Strip years ago.
He said the delegation also urged Ban to be more active this year than last year because the situation is “dramatic in Gaza and dangerous in the West Bank.
” He added that the delegation also expressed to Ban its “deep concern” over the lack of concrete progress in the Quartet’s work and its “timid” reaction to the deteriorating situation in Gaza, urging him to increase the UN influence within the Quartet members – UN, US, EU and Russia.
“We underlined (to Ban) that an increasing role of the UN will have a positive impact on the Peace Process and leads to reinforcing its credibility as a key player within the Quartet,” he said.
He added that the delegation expressed regret to Ban that the Security Council was unable to address the situation in Gaza last week and informed him that the Arab group is “studying several options to address the situation there, including calling for a resumed emergency special session of the General Assembly.” The delegation also voiced to Ban its desire to see UN reports and statements in the Security Council presented in a “balanced, accurate, and factual manner.” The delegation was composed of the ambassadors of Algeria, the group’s current chairman, Saudi Arabia, the group’s chairman last month, Libya, the council’s only Arab member, Palestine, the Arab League, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Sudan.