United Nations Radio

Arab foreign ministers meeting in New York are working on a new draft resolution to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, after a Libyan sponsored draft statement failed to get consensus from UN Security Council members on Saturday.

desperate woman in Gaza

Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Foreign Minister, told reporters Monday morning that the new draft will call for ending the aggression in Gaza, establishing a permanent cease-fire, opening the Gaza crossings with Israel and Egypt and allowing humanitarian aid to go through. It will also demand international observers at the crossings and a peace-keeping force to protect civilians. Asked whether the government of Hamas would agree to these conditions, Minister Al-Maliki said it would accomplish their objectives.

Al-Maliki: According to my reading and what I've heard from Hamas spokespersons and leaders over the last weeks that they were sending these rockets in order really to pressure Israel to lift the siege and to open the Rafah crossing and so if we are going to achieve such an objective through UN Security Council resolution I think we are doing exactly what Hamas tried to do through rockets and did not achieve it.

PRES: The Security Council President for this month, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, said after that meeting that there was no consensus on issuing a statement despite the concern shared by members.

Ripert: I have noted strong convergences among the members to express our serious concern at the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the situation in Gaza and Southern Israel - serious convergences to call for an immediate, permanent, and fully-respected ceasefire. There were serious convergences to express deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need to ensure free access for humanitarian supplies. And there were serious convergences to call for all parties to protect civilians.

PRES: Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, said it was particularly striking that the lack of action came at a time when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had issued a statement expressing concern about the escalation of violence in Gaza.

Abdelaziz: We find that the Security Council because it is blocked by a permanent member, they don't even want to grant a press statement like the one that was adopted on the 28th, they want to issue elements to the press that are not issued as an official document of the United Nations. So that at the time that the aggression is escalating, and more people are dying, and the military attack on the ground is at full scale, we find regrettably that the Security Council is downgrading its response.

PRES: Speaking in his personal capacity, the General Assembly President, Miguel d'Escoto Brockman, who was there to observe the proceedings, called the Israeli attack on Gaza "a monstrosity" that could not be justified as a response to the firing of rockets by Hamas terrorists into Israeli territory.

Brockman: I have always been totally against violence. I believe completely in non-violence. But, to say that the violence now erupted because of some rockets fired by Hamas is to ignore the fact that there has been violence for decades, and that the very occupation in itself of a territory is a violent thing. And also the treatment to which the people have been subjected, so there is violence on both sides.

PRES: The US Representative, Alejandro Wolff, however, blamed Hamas for both persisting with the rocket attacks and for smuggling arms across the border, which he gave as the reason the Gaza crossings have not been opened. He also maintained that Israel was only exercising its right to self-defense.

Wolff: We're not going to equate the actions of Israel, a member State of the United Nations with the actions of the terrorist group, Hamas - there is no equivalence there.

PRES: The Palestinian representative, Riyad Mansour, said that if the UN Charter is invoked in supporting a state's right to self-defense, it should be recognized that it also supports a people's right to self-determination and resisting occupation.

Mansour: When people look at the situation in a one-sided way then we will face the situation as we faced. We need to look at the situation in a comprehensive way, in a fair way, in a balanced way, in a way to say...to continue with the option of war and destruction - it is not going to be helping anyone. It is going to be moving the situation deeper into confrontation and conflict.

PRES: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected in New York on Tuesday to meet with Secretary-General Ban and to attend the meeting of the Security Council.

 Producer:  Bissera Kostova
(duration:  4'51")