U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged restraint and an end to the new wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence in a blitz of phone calls Wednesday to their leaders and key regional players, warning that the volatile situation raises the risk of another full-blown war.
The U.N. chief said he also urged the Egyptian president, the rulers of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and others to press the Israelis and Palestinians to return to their November 2012 cease-fire agreement and resume peace negotiations.
Ban was scheduled to address an emergency Security Council meeting on the crisis Thursday.
He said Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and the emir of Qatar assured him they had urged restraint and were working for a cease-fire. He said he discussed with Kerry “what is necessary to do” to restore calm as soon as possible.
“Gaza is on a knife-edge,” Ban said at a news conference. “The deteriorating situation is leading to a downward spiral which could quickly get out of control. The risk of violence expanding further still is real.”
The U.N. chief said”Gaza, and the region as a whole, cannot afford another full-blown war.”
Israel launched the new offensive Tuesday to end rocket fire from Gaza that has reached deeper into the Jewish state and intensified in recent weeks amid tensions over the killing of three Israeli teenagers and the apparent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager.
The offensive has set off the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, since an eight-day battle in November 2012. On Wednesday, Israel pummeled scores of targets and killed at least 22 people.
While demanding a halt to the rocket attacks against Israel, Ban said he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “exercise maximum restraint and to respect international obligations to protect civilians.”
The U.N. chief said he commended Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their phone conversation “for courageously upholding his commitment to security coordination” with Israel, stressing that “this is essential to achieving stability on the ground.”
“President Abbas remains the best partner for peace,” Ban said.
The U.N. chief said his calls to world leaders were continuing.
So far, he said, “the leaders agreed on the urgency of the situation and the imperative to resume meaningful negotiations towards a viable two-state solution.”
At Thursday’s council meeting, Ban said he will report on his talks with key players and discuss what he expects the council, regional leaders and the broader international community should do to stop the violence and prevent it from spreading.
Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour and ambassadors representing Arab, Islamic and non-aligned nations told reporters after meeting the council president that they want immediate council action to end what they say is Israel’s “outrageous onslaught” against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told reporters that Israel offered Hamas a cease-fire “through every possible channel” but it refused. “Hamas dragged us into this conflict,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Moualimi, speaking on behalf of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, expressed outrage at Israel’s “barbaric onslaught” and “disproportionate application of force” which he called “unprecedented in scale and in scope against the Palestinian people.”
Mansour, pointing to the escalating death toll of Palestinian civilians, demanded that the council “shoulder its responsibility and stop this aggression against our people.”
That will likely prove difficult because of deep divisions in the council — where U.S. strongly supports Israel — that have blocked any significant action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(AP)
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11 Responses
So Mr. Moon woke up after all these weeks? How about going back to bed for just another 2-3 weeks?
I’m glad he also called Nigeria and Syria and ISIS leaders! He also called Iran and Korea etc.
He’s good!!
Let this piece of human debris remember to use the word “restraint” when the arab animals commit their murderous deeds and not just recall his vocabulary once israel responds
Wipe em out once and for all they r arrogant and rotten remember when they got kicked out of lebanon and left while making the v sign. They will never get it like the little boy who starts up with his big brother and cries to his mommy when he gets beaten up
I really am sick and tired of hearing the world urge for restraint. It shows a serious lack of understand and care for what is going on.
I remember very well that America was attacked only twice in its history on its own soil and they were only too eager to carpet bomb Iraq, Afghanistan and Japan in revenge with no concern for life or limb of the “Innocent”.
Russia is willing to go to war with anyone or money. Korea can handle one starving, dysfunctional, lunatic of dictator. Lets not mention German, Japan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the whole African continant (Remember Rwanda)
The world has to wake up THIS IS A WAR no one wants it but it is what it is. B’H we have been protected by Hakodosh Baruch Hu so far and have not seen any major damage here.
However for the people in the South of Israel who are living minute to minute with sirens wayling and missile exploding for the last 14 yrs. Never forget we are with you and praying for you and are concerned always for you it is just a sham your government does not care to take the necessary action to ensure your protection. But never fear HaKodosh Baruch Hu is near and will always protect his people.
It’s so absurd. Hundreds of thousands of syrians, iraqis, libyans, eygptian getting killed and this is what concerns them…
“President Abbas remains the best partner for peace,” Ban said.
Well, I guess Mr. Bunkhead agree’s with Shimon Peres on that one.
Maybe the Indian chief of the UN terror group should restrain himself from opening his mouth
if someone attacks you, are you not allowed to retaliate? israel should just sit and allow the rain of rockets to fall on them and do nothing? the UN are anti semetic Nazis.
nov 2012 ceasefire useless. rockets still shot. Only if hamasd completely disarmes and NO rockets shot then ceasefire maybe will work. BUT UNFORTUNATELY NO ONE EVEN THE UN AND US CAN EFFECT SUCH A CEASEFIRE..,..ANYTHING ELSE IS USELESS AS HAVE BEEN PROVEN MANY TIMES BEFORE…TIME TO WAKE UP TO REALITY–MR. MOON….THEREFORE TO TPOTAL;LY DESYTROY HAMAS CAPABILITIES….
This little man should have called HAMas years ago. Now he should keep his fantasies to himself until there is only a whimper from the arabs.
To commenter no. 3: Your comment is reprehensible for a number of reasons, but the most reprehensible is your call for genocide: “Wipe em out once and for all they r arrogant and rotten ….” You do not seem to understand that you are an echo of Germany in the 1930’s.