Egypt, France propose Gaza plan
2009-01-07 10:02
Geneva - The presidents of Egypt and France on Tuesday proposed a plan to end the escalating Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza, a move immediately welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who came to the United Nations seeking an immediate cease-fire.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the initiative calls for an immediate cease-fire by Israel and Palestinian factions for a specific period to allow secure corridors for delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and give Egypt time to continue efforts to reach a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire.
Egypt is inviting the Israeli and Palestinian side for urgent meetings to guarantee that there is no repetition of the current military action and to deal with the causes, including securing Gaza's borders, reopening all crossings and lifting the Israeli "siege," Mubarak said.
The UN Security Council held a high-level emergency meeting late on Tuesday as international pressure mounted for an end to the 11-day Israeli offensive in Gaza that has killed nearly 600 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, and injured at least 2 500, according to UN and Palestinian officials.
Israel says it launched the air and ground attack to end Hamas rocketing that has traumatized southern Israel. Hamas, a militant Islamic group which the US and Israel consider a terrorist organization, wrested control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in June 2007.
At Tuesday's four hour council meeting, virtually every Arab speaker denounced the Security Council's failure to adopt a legally binding resolution to stop the Israeli offensive and demand a durable cease-fire.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the council's "deafening silence" placed "a big question mark" over its credibility "and the entire system of international security".
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the Egyptian and French presidents launched their initiative, which the league's 22 members support, because of the council's procrastination.
"We do not see any contradiction between that initiative and the work of the Security Council," he said. "In fact, they both complement each other ... since our objective is the same."
To try to spur speedy council action, Libya formally circulated a revised Arab draft resolution on Tuesday that calls for an "immediate and sustainable" cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions before its offensive began on December 27, the opening of all crossings into Gaza, and the restoration of a 2005 agreement in which European Union monitors were deployed at the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent smuggling.
It also calls for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, speeded up efforts to achieve a lasting Middle East solution with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, and deployment of an international observer force to monitor a cease-fire, protect Palestinian civilians and enhance the process of restoring calm.
But the draft makes no mention of a key US and Israeli demand - for border monitors to destroy tunnels that Hamas has used to smuggle in large amounts of rockets and explosives since seizing control of Gaza. In fact, it never mentions Hamas by name.
- AP