By KUNA
United Nations : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Saturday evening condemned both the Israeli disproportionate and excessive use of force in Gaza Strip and the Palestinian rocket attacks, describing these as acts of terrorism.
Addressing an emergency meeting of the Security Council called for by Libya, the body’s only Arab member, Ban said that while he recognized Israel’s right to defend itself, “I condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children.
“I call on Israel to cease such attacks. Israel must fully comply with international humanitarian law and exercise the utmost restraint. Incidents in which civilians have been killed or injured must be investigated and accountability must be ensured.
“I am deeply concerned at the possibility of the violence escalating. I have offered our strong support for all efforts to bring about an end to the violence and a period of calm. I call on all parties to step back from the brink of even deeper and more deadly clashes.
“I am also extremely concerned at the impact of these developments on the negotiation process. I call on all members of the international community, important stakeholders and Security Council members to exercise their influence on the parties to stop the violence and to allow humanitarian relief. All parties should re-dedicate their commitment to the peace process.” He said the scenes from Gaza Saturday have been “particularly disturbing,” even though there has been a deeply alarming escalation of violence there and a terrible civilian death toll since last Wednesday.
He quoted UN estimates which stated that 59 Palestinians have been killed Saturday, including 39 civilians, among them an infant, five minors and three women, besides the heavy property damage.
He added that the UN on the ground also reported at least four incidents of Israeli fire against ambulances and medical personnel and the Palestinian Ministry of Health has issued a call for diesel, in order to operate its ambulances.
“I call on Israel to facilitate full access to hospitals and medical centres for the injured,” he urged.
He said he spoke Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and League of Arab States Secretary-General Amr Moussa to press for a calming of the violence.
Ban also “condemned Palestinian rocket attacks, and called for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism, which serve no purpose, endanger Israeli civilians, and bring misery to the Palestinian people. I call for an end to these attacks” which have now extended as far north as the Israeli city of Ashkelon.
He noted that these rockets, according to press reports and Israeli government sources, “are not home-made Qassems, but rather are rockets of advanced Katyusha-like design, allegedly smuggled into Gaza when the border with Egypt was breached.” Egyptian envoy Maged Abdelaziz later told reporters that Ban should not have used these allegations because they are baseless, adding that he will protest such statement.
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour urged the council and the international community as a whole to shoulder their “legal and moral obligations and provide the defenseless Palestinians with urgently needed and effective protection.” “An immediate cease-fire in the occupied Palestinian territories and tangible action are required to bring an end to the violence, the killing of civilians, the destruction and obstruction of provision of humanitarian assistance,” he said.
He said the council must be the player to help the parties to break this deadly cycle of violence and help them to advance the new strategy that has been called for to bring an immediate halt to the violence and resolve the current crisis and create an environment conducive for the advancement of serious peace negotiations in good faith.
“Continued silence will bring only more death and destruction and further dangerous destabilization of the situation to the detriment of all concerned which must be avoided at all cost,” he warned.
— After hours of deliberations, the council could not agree on a Libyan draft resolution that would strongly condemn the killing of civilians, including children, call for an immediate cessation of all acts of violence, including military attacks and the firing of rockets, express grave concern at the steep deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory, call on Israel to immediately open Gaza’s border crossings and urge donors to provide emergency assistance.
The council, however, managed to issue a statement to the press until the council experts meet again in the coming days to examine the draft resolution.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters the draft will not be examined before the council acts on a draft resolution on the Iranian nuclear issue scheduled for Monday.
Council President Vitaly Churkin of the Russian Federation told reporters that the council is “deeply concerned” about the loss of civilian life in Southern Israel and Gaza and condemns the escalation of violence that has taken place.
He said the council calls upon all parties to respect their obligations under international law, adding that these events underscore the need for all parties to immediately cease all acts of violence.
“These acts must not be allowed to deter the political process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed at establishing two states – Israel and Palestine – living side by side in peace and security,” he noted.
He said the council members express appreciation for the Secretary-General’s participation in this evening’s meeting and take note of his statement on the situation.