UN Security Council delays vote on criticism of Israel's Gaza attack

Fri Nov 10, 10:26 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council delayed by 24 hours a vote on a watered-down draft resolution that would condemn Israel's deadly attack in the Gaza Strip as well as Palestinian rocket firing into Israel, diplomats said.

The decision was made during closed-door consultations of the 15-member body after the draft introduced by Qatar on behalf of Arab member states was toned down to make it more palatable to Western countries.

A Western diplomat said the council would meet at noon (1700 GMT) Saturday to vote on the text which is widely expected to face a veto from the United States, a staunch ally of Israel.

The delay was meant to give council members time to consult their capitals for instructions on how to vote.

The amended draft no longer refers to Wednesday's Israeli shelling that killed 18 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun as "a massacre" and no longer calls for the deployment of UN observers to supervise a mutual ceasefire.

Instead the new text would condemn Israel's military operations in Gaza, particularly the Beit Hanoun incident along with "the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel".

It calls on Israel "to immediately cease its military operations that endanger the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and to immediately withdraw its forces from within the Gaza Strip to positions prior to June 28, 2006."

It also calls for an "immediate halt of all acts of violence and military activities" by Israelis and Palestinians.

It urges the international community, including the diplomatic Quartet -- -- the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- "to stabilize the situation and restart the peace process, including through the possible establishment of an international mechanism for protection of the civilian populations."

It also directs the UN secretary general to set up a fact-finding mission on the Beit Hanoun attack within 30 days.

Qatar's UN Ambassador Abdulaziz al-Nasser said the text was amended by experts earlier Friday to take into account objections raised by several Western delegations, including the United States.

But despite the changes, the United States is expected to veto the draft, several diplomats said.

Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia are expected to abstain, according to a diplomatic source, who requested anonymity.

Other diplomats said Arab countries would most likely then take their case to the 192-member General Assembly, where their draft would get a more sympathetic hearing.

Wednesday's Israeli strike in Gaza was condemned worldwide and prompted moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to accuse Israel of sinking chances of peace and to declare a three-day mourning period in the Palestinian territories.

The world community called for an immediate halt by the Jewish state of its offensive in Gaza, which has left more than 300 Palestinians dead since late June when an Israeli soldier was seized by Palestinian militants.

In Tehran, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Friday also condemned the West's "silence" over the Israeli killing of the 18 innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

"The West's silence towards this huge atrocity shows that Palestinian children, men and women's lives are worthless for these self-professed human rights backers," Khamenei was quoted as saying by the state radio.

And Israel went on heightened state of alert Friday amid fears of Palestinian suicide bombings following a lethal shelling in Gaza Strip.

Israeli security forces have been bracing for possible attacks after Palestinian groups that had observed an almost two-year truce in attacks inside Israel called for a resumption of suicide bombings to avenge the deaths of the 18 Palestinians.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.