Monday 28 July 2014

UN Calls For Immediate Ceasefire In Gaza

 A Palestinian mother mourns her son in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, 28 July

An emergency session backed a statement calling for a truce over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr "and beyond".

Both the Palestinian and Israeli envoys to the UN criticised the statement, for different reasons.

Gaza had its quietest night in weeks after a weekend punctuated by brief truce initiatives offered by both Israel and Hamas.

More than 1,030 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 43 Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians have been killed. A Thai national in Israel has also died. More than 100,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes.



The Gaza health ministry on Sunday revised the number of Palestinian dead down by 30 after some relatives found missing family members.

Israel's military reported a new rocket attack on Monday morning, saying it had hit an open area in southern Israel. It fired back, in its first reported military action since late on Sunday evening.


Pressure on Obama
 
US President Barack Obama called for an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire in a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

A long-term solution, he added, would have to allow "Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives" and "must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarisation of Gaza".

Mr Obama may have felt compelled to make the call after some embarrassment to his Secretary of State, John Kerry, in Israel, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports from Washington.

Mr Kerry's ceasefire plan was rejected, and his character was attacked in sections of the Israeli media.

Mr Obama may also feel that after a weekend where brief ceasefires helped expose the full extent of the destruction in parts of Gaza, he had to be seen to be condemning it.

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