 Arab nations called on the UN Security Council on Tuesday to put pressure on the Israeli military to end a wave of military strikes on Palestinian targets. Several members of the 15-nation council said a draft statement, which was put forward by BahrainÂ’s UN ambassador, on behalf of the Arab group at the United Nations, was biased against Israel and needed rewriting.
| Where's the part about the Paleostinians stopping shelling Israel? |
The next step was for council diplomats to meet informally to negotiate revisions in the text, they said. “At the moment, what is on the table I don’t think is the basis for agreement,” British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters. “I think it is very partial in the comments it makes.”
| Oh, do tell? Sounds pretty balanced, except for the part about no demands being made on the Paleos... |
To win US backing a council statement would have to be “something that contributes to positive movement in the dispute, not something that creates more heat than light,” US Ambassador John Bolton said.
Palestinian UN Observer Riyad Mansour said the Palestinians wanted the council “to ask Israel to stop this aggression against the Palestinian people and to cease these military activities and attacks and killing of civilians immediately”.
Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Tuesday Israel would intensify its bombardments of Gaza, as Palestinian premier Ismail Haniya accused Israel of trying to bring the Palestinian people to their knees. “As long as calm does not prevail on the Israeli side, neither will it do so on the Palestinian side,” said the defence minister. “Our operations are going to intensify.” |