UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today on the escalating violence between Israel and Hamas, the Council’s presidency said.
The talks, which will begin at 10am (1400 GMT), will include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon giving the latest about the situation on the ground, followed by closed-door consultations between the Council’s 15 members.
Arab envoys to the United Nations had requested an urgent Security Council session on the situation in Gaza during a meeting yesterday with the peace and security body’s president.
Kuwaiti ambassador Mansour Al Otaibi urged the council to “stop the Israeli aggression and collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” amid an escalation of the fighting between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.
“I think it is about time the Council issue a statement or resolution” on this issue, he told reporters, speaking on behalf of the Arab bloc. Rwandan envoy Eugene-Richard Gasana, who holds the council’s rotating presidency for July, “promised to convey this, and we expect a meeting in the near future,” Al Otaibi said.AFP
