UNSC Holds Emergency Meeting to Discuss Situation in Gaza

New York, MINA – The UN Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza on Tuesday.

Several council members voiced concern amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group, after three days of Israeli air strikes in the region.

As quoted by Al Jazeera, Speaking via video at the start of the meeting, the UN envoy for the Middle East Tor Wennesland warned that the ceasefire was fragile.

He warned that any resumption of hostilities would only have devastating consequences for the Palestinians and Israelis and made any political progress on key issues difficult to achieve.

Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia stressed that he was very concerned about the current situation, which could lead to a resumption of military confrontation and further exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

At least 46 Palestinians comprising nearly half of civilians, including 15 children were killed after Israel began a series of bombings of Islamic Jihad positions in Gaza since Friday, leaving hundreds of people in the territory injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect on Sunday evening, but both sides have the right to respond if the truce is violated.

Wennesland said a UN assessment of the violence was ongoing, noting that about 20 percent of the roughly 1,100 rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups had fallen on the Gaza Strip.

The fighting was the worst in Gaza since an 11-day war last year that killed at least 250 people. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)