United Nations Radio

The UN Security Council early Sunday morning called on both Israel and the Palestinians to immediately end all violence in the Gaza Strip. The call came after a 4-hour emergency Council meeting, convened to discuss the escalating violence in Gaza.

UN Security Council

Israeli air strikes have reportedly killed 270 people and injured hundreds of others in Gaza. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, said the strikes were prompted by rocket attacks on Israeli towns from Gaza:

"The last days were so bad that we had to say and we did say enough is enough. We had no choice but to go on a military operation and the only party to blame is the Hamas."

The Council also called on the parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza, and to open the border crossings so that the 1.5 million Palestinians living there could get the food and other supplies they need.

Israel has allowed only small quantities of food and fuel into Gaza since rockets resumed more than six weeks ago. But the Palestinian Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour said the military operation was not justified.

"There is no justification for slaughtering hundreds of Palestinian civilians and injuring close to one thousand people. There is no justification whatsoever."

Both sides said they would wait to see if the other side complied with the Security Council position.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador said Israel had a right to defend itself, and the long-term answer to the problem was the two-state solution.

Diane Bailey, United Nations.

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