Ban Ki-Moon calls Hamas irresponsible
Israel’s envoy to the UN told reporters that Israel would not support a cease-fire agreement, despite calls for one by both the UN Secretary-General and the Palestinian ambassador in their speeches. “Our clear goal is to dismantle the infrastructure that Hamas has amassed,” Prosor said. “They [Hamas] have turned this whole place [Gaza] into a launching pad of terror.
“Hamas dragged us into this conflict,” Prosor told the Council, citing the abduction and murder of Eyal Yifrah, Gil-ad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel. Prosor also accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields, an accusation the Palestinian envoy roundly rejected.
Prosor called, again, for the UN to denounce the Palestinian unity government. "Since when does a terrorist organization get a seat and a voice at the UN?" he asked.
“Some in this Chamber have criticized Israel for finally responding to these provocations. They have accused us of reacting disproportionately,” he said. “Asking Israel to show restraint while our cities are under constant attack is like asking the fire brigade to battle an inferno with nothing more than buckets of water.”
In the Security Council chamber, Prosor took out his phone and played the sound of an air-raid siren. “Fifteen seconds,” he told the diplomats. “That’s how much time you have to run for your life.”
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When asked by reporters at a press conference after the meeting if the Palestinian Authority accepted responsibility for the rockets fired by Hamas at Gaza, Mansour responded, “The Palestinian people are one. The government is one. The president is president Abbas. We are defending ourselves against this aggression toward our people.”
“The immediate thing that we want is for the Security Council to shoulder its responsibility and stop this aggression against our people,” Mansour said on Wednesday. He also repeatedly denounced what he called Israel’s attempts to “discredit” the unity government. On Thursday, flanked by representatives from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Mansour struck out directly at Prosor for Israel’s calls on the UN to denounce the new government. “This is an exercise in futility,” Mansour said, calling the Israeli government racist.
“I am proud that I represent the Palestinian people, who are respected in every corner of the globe,” Mansour said. “I am not a representative of a government that is totally isolated and disrespected in the international community.”
“We did not start this round of attacks. It is the Israeli government,” Mansour said. “After the killing of the three settlers [Eyal, Gilad and Naftali], they started this attack against our people. The rockets came after that.”That last bit is nonsense. The rockets were flying the entire time the three kidnapped teens weren't found.
But here's the amazing part:
Amidst the back and forth between the Arab nations and Israel, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appealed for calm and restraint on all sides. Appearing before reporters on Wednesday — a rare occurrence — specifically to address the Gaza situation, Ban said, “Gaza is on a knife-edge…This is a time for justice, not for revenge. It is a time for statesmanship and wisdom.”
Ban told reporters and the Security Council on Thursday that he had been in intense discussions with world leaders, including US secretary of state John Kerry, over how to handle the situation, and said the UN was stepping up its humanitarian activities in the area.
In his speech to the council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said his paramount concern was for the civilians, who are “once again… caught between Hamas's irresponsibility and Israel's tough response.”
He called both parties back to the table to renew talks for the two-state solution. “We face the risk of an all-out escalation in Israel and Gaza, with the threat of a ground offensive still palpable -- and preventable only if Hamas stops rocket firing,” he said. “Gaza, and the region as a whole, cannot afford another full-blown war and another fault line.”He called Hamas irresponsible? Unbelievable. But no, there will be no negotiations with Hamas and there won't be any with a Hamas-Fatah unity government either.
Labels: Ban Ki-Moon, Hamas rockets, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Riyad Mansour, Ron Prosor, United Nations, United Nations Security Council
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:52 PM
1 Comments:
I'm betting that behind the scenes the PA representatives aren't nearly as supportive of Hamas as they feel compelled to be in public. That probably explains the muted response from the UN types.
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