Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (R, front)
speaks after approval of the resolution calling for ceasefire between
Israel and Hamas in Gaza during the United Nations Security Council
meeting on Gaza crisis at the UN headquarters in New York, the United
States, Jan. 8, 2009.(Xinhua/Hou Jun)Photo Gallery>>>
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security
Council on Thursday adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in
Gaza "leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces."
The 15-nation council approved the resolution with 14
voting in favor. The United States abstained.
The council took the move after Arab and Western
foreign ministers agreed on an amended version of a Britain-drafted resolution.
It came on the 13th day of Israeli military assaults on Gaza in which more than
700 Palestinians have died.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose
country holds the Security Council presidency for January, chaired the open
council meeting, at which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband were
present.
Zhang Yesui, Chinese Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, votes for approval of the resolution
calling for ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza during the United
Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza crisis at the UN headquarters in
New York, Jan. 8, 2009.(Xinhua/Hou Jun) Photo
Gallery>>>
After the vote, Ban said that his trip to the Middle
East next week will help to promote the ceasefire.
In the resolution, the council stressed that "the
Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 and
will be a part of the Palestine State."
Kouchner, speaking in his capacity as the French
foreign minister, said that the resolution "is the only viable way" to achieve
peace in the Middle East.
Rice, in explaining her vote, said that despite the
abstention, the United States supports the text of the resolution.
The United States is a close ally of Israel, which
launched air strikes on Dec. 27, 2008 to retaliate for the firing of rockets
into southern Israel by Hamas militants.
Bernard Kouchner (C), foreign minister
of France, votes for approval of the resolution calling for ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas in Gaza during the United Nations Security
Council meeting on Gaza crisis at the UN headquarters in New York, the
United States, Jan. 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Hou Jun) Photo
Gallery>>>
The resolution also "calls for the unimpeded
provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including
food, fuel and medicines."
The Security Council "welcomes the initiative aimed
at creating and opening humanitarian corridors and other mechanisms for the
sustained delivery of humanitarian aid," the resolution said.
The Security Council "condemns all violence and
hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism."
The Security Council "calls upon member states to
intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to
sustain a durable ceasefire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking
in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained reopening of the crossing
points on the basis of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access between the
Palestinian Authority and Israel," the resolution said.
Meanwhile, the Security Council also "welcomes the
Egyptian initiative, and other regional and international efforts that are under
way," the resolution said, referring to a peace initiative announced by Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.
The Security Council "welcomes the Quartet's
consideration, in consultation with other parties, of an international meeting
in Moscow in 2009," the resolution said.
The Quartet groups the United Nations, the European
Union, Russia and the United States in search of peace in the Middle
East.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Friday that Israeli army will continue acting to defend the citizens of Israel and carry out the missions laid before it in the Gaza operation, local news service Ynet reported.
Olmert made the remarks in response to the UN Security Council's Thursday resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Full story
JERUSALEM, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni said that Israel will continue to act only in its own
interest, local news service Ynet reported Friday.
Livni's words came hours after the UN Security
Council passed are solution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza
Strip. Full story
GAZA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Friday that the fresh resolution of the UN Security Council, which called for immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, is not interesting "because it neglected the movement's demands."
After days of diplomatic wrestling, the UN Security Council on Thursday adopted resolution 1860 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza "leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces." Full story
(Zhang Yesui, Chinese Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, votes for approval of the resolution
calling for ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza during the United
Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza crisis at the UN headquarters in
New York, the United States, Jan. 8, 2009.(Xinhua Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- China on
Thursday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the comprehensive and
effective implementation of the new Security Council resolution by all parties
concerned.
Zhang Yesui, the Chinese permanent representative to
the United Nations, said the newly adopted resolution reflects the shared
expectations and desires of the international community concerned with the
current situation in Gaza. Full story
UNITED NATIONS, Jan.
8 (Xinhua) -- A UN agency that is a lifeline for 750,000 Palestinian refugees in
Gaza suspended food delivery operations on Thursday after Israeli airstrikes
killed one of its drivers and injured another.
The airstrikes marked the 13th day of the
Israeli offensive launched with the stated aim of ending Hamas militant rocket
attacks into Israel. Full story
ISLAMABAD, Jan.
9 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were burnt to death in a big fire that broke
out in southern Pakistan's Karachi city early Friday morning.
The big fire engulfed about two dozen hutments in Sector 5
of North Karachi, opposite Bilal Colony a little after midnight, leaving at
least 30 people including women and children dead, the official Associated Press
of Pakistan reported. Full story
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Three Israeli soldiers were
killed in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, bringing to nine the total death toll of
the army in battle.
One was killed in a close gunfight with Hamas militants,
one by Palestinian sniper fire, and the third in an anti-tank missile attack,
said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), adding that several other soldiers were
wounded in these incidents. Full story
