Finally, a common word.
The UN Security Council called on Saturday for "full" respect for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in its first united statement since the conflict began on May 10.
"The members of the Security Council welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire as of May 21 and recognized the important role played by Egypt" and other countries in the region, adds this document approved by the United States, after the withdrawal of a paragraph on the condemnation of violence.
Washington had so far rejected three declarations, as well as a French draft resolution demanding "an immediate cessation of hostilities" and calling for "the unhindered provision and distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza."
In addition to calling for "full respect for the ceasefire", the new text, proposed by China, Norway and Tunisia, simply notes that the member countries of the Council "deplore the civilian losses due to the violence".
They “underlined the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, more particularly in Gaza, and supported the call of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the international community to (…) rebuild” the Palestinian enclave, adds the text.
They also stressed that it is “urgent to restore calm and reaffirmed the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the conception of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side, at peace with secure and recognized borders ”.
Thinking about reconstruction
An Egyptian delegation was received this Saturday in Ramallah by the President of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss the monitoring of the ceasefire. Another is expected in Israel. Dozens of trucks of international aid began pouring in on Friday through the Kerem Shalom terminals, on the border with Israel, and those of Rafah, on the Egyptian border, according to several UN agencies. The Egyptian foreign minister said he had received a call from his Israeli counterpart to discuss measures to facilitate reconstruction operations.
US President Joe Biden has declared his intention to provide "major" financial assistance to "rebuild Gaza" but without giving Hamas - considered "terrorist" by the United States - "the opportunity to rebuild its weapon system ”. Joe Biden also reiterated support for the two-state solution, the creation of an independent Palestine alongside Israel, calling it "the only possible answer" to the conflict. The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken is expected in the Middle East "in the coming days".
Since the clashes began on May 10, at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and Hamas fighters, have died in the Israeli strikes, while 12 people have lost their lives in Israel, including a child, a teenage girl and a soldier, the Palestinian movements of Gaza having fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israeli territory.
The Security Council is expected to speak again about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Thursday, during its monthly public meeting on the subject, scheduled well before the outbreak of the conflict.
This will be its fifth meeting on the subject this month after four emergency meetings, including three behind closed doors and one public.
