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Special report: Israel launches Gaza assault

    UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Saturday vetoed an Arab-sponsored UN Security Council draft resolution which sought to condemn the deadly Israeli attack in Gaza and urge an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from there.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton raises his hand to vote against a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's recent attacks in Gaza at the U.N. headquarters in New York November 11, 2006.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton raises his hand to vote against a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's recent attacks in Gaza at the U.N. headquarters in New York November 11, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Among the 15 council members, 10 voted in favor and four -- Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia -- abstained. The United States voted against the draft resolution.

"The draft doesn't display an even-handed characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace to which we aspire and for which we are working assiduously," U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the council.

The United States is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council which wield veto power.

Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour expressed disappointment over the vote, stressing the council was conveying two wrong messages to the outside.

"For Israel, you have conveyed to them they can continue to behave above international law. For the Palestinian people, you have conveyed that justice is not being dealt with in a proper way," he said.

Mansour told reporters later that foreign ministers of Arab nations would hold a meeting in Cairo on Sunday to decide the next steps.

He said one option was to bring the measure to a vote in the 192-nation UN General Assembly, where Washington does not have veto power.

It was the second time for the United States to cast a veto in the council this year on a draft resolution concerning Israeli military operations in Gaza.

On July 13, the United States killed a draft resolution reacting to an earlier Israeli incursion in Gaza in response to the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.

PNA slams U.S. veto against UN decision that condemns Israel

GAZA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Saturday condemned the veto of the United States representative in the UN Security Council against a decision that condemning the Israeli offensive on Gaza.

The Israeli army carried out a heavy ground offensive on northern Gaza Strip, called "Autumn Clouds" operation, which lasted for eight days, leaving more than 83 Palestinians dead and over 300 others wounded.

The worst deadly event in the Israeli offensive was the killing of 18 Palestinians last Wednesday, mostly women and children, in Israeli artillery shelling on the town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip.

"The U.S. veto against the UN decision which condemned the Israeli daily massacres against the Palestinian people is for sure encouraging Israel to carry out more aggressions into the Palestinian territories," said the PNA official.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had earlier called on Israel to resume the peace negotiations and end its occupation of the Palestinian territories, and stop Jewish settlements activities in the West Bank.

Abbas' appeal made in a speech he addressed to mark the two-year anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat decease.

UN postpones vote on draft condemning Gaza attack

Mourners pray near bodies of the Palestinians killed by Israeli artillery during their funeral at Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza Strip , Nov. 9, 2006.

Mourners pray near bodies of the Palestinians killed by Israeli artillery during their funeral at Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza Strip , Nov. 9, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday put off by 24 hours a vote on a draft resolution condemning Israel's deadly attack in Gaza, after Arab nations agreed to soften the text.

Members of the 15-member body met briefly to discuss the draft,which was introduced by Qatar on behalf of Arab states.

The council would meet at noon (1700 GMT) on Saturday to vote on the text, whose wording was toned down somewhat from a version being circulated earlier this week, said Western diplomats.

Arab nations initially asked the council to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a UN observer force to enforce the ceasefire.

A new draft circulated on Friday dropped both the ceasefire call and a UN observer force, calling on the international community to take steps to stabilize the situation, revive the Middle East peace process, and consider "the possible establishment of an international mechanism" for the protection of civilians.

Both the original text and the revised version urged Israel to end its military operations in Palestinian territories and withdraw its troops from Gaza immediately.

But diplomats said the United States would likely veto the new draft although Washington had not publicly stated its position.

Israeli tanks attacked a residential neighborhood in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza early Wednesday, killing at least 18 people, including eight children.

It was the deadliest attack on Palestinian civilians in the past several years, prompting a wave of strong censure across the Arab world and the international community.

Israel has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East and the United States has repeatedly supported Israel's military action against the Palestinians as defending itself from "terrorist" attacks.

A Palestinian carries the body of one-and-a-half year old Maram Al-Athamna, after she was killed together with her family by Israeli artillery shell, during her funeral at Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip Nov. 9, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Amid shouts of pain and anger and calls of revenge, thousands of Palestinians on Thursday buried the bodies of 18 civilians who were killed Wednesday by Israeli artillery shelling in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

The angry Palestinians, from all over the Gaza Strip, traveled to Beit Hanoun to take part in the funeral of the victims, most of whom were members of the al-Athamna family. <<Full Story

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