U.N. Security Council calls for Gaza ceasefire

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday called for a ceasefire in hostilities between Palestinians and Israelis and expressed serious concern about the welfare and protection of civilians on both sides as death toll reached 135 people killed in Gaza Strip.
 

“The Security Council members called for de-escalation of the situation, restoration of calm, and reinstitution of the November 2012 ceasefire,” Reuters quoted the 15-member body as saying in a statement.

The Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour described the Security Council’s call for ceasefire as “immediate” and urged for the respect of human rights.
As the death toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli raids on Gaza in the past five days reached 135 on Saturday,  Mansour sounded the alarm that about 78 percent of those killed were civilians.

• Before the Security Council’s statement, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he will discuss an international push for a ceasefire in Gaza with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his German and French counterparts during talks in Vienna on Sunday.

Hague said in a statement on Saturday that the discussions on ending the hostilities between Israel and Gaza would take place on the sidelines of talks on Iran’s nuclear program in the Austrian capital.
“It is clear that we need urgent, concerted international action to secure a ceasefire, as was the case in 2012” during the last round of conflict between Israel and militants in the Palestinian coastal enclave, Hague said.

• “I will discuss this with John Kerry, Laurent Fabius and Frank-Walter Steinmeier tomorrow (Sunday) in Vienna.”

He said he had also spoken by telephone on Saturday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
“I stressed the need for an immediate de-escalation and restoration of the November 2012 ceasefire, our deep concern about the number of civilian casualties and the need for all sides to avoid further civilian injuries and the loss of innocent life,” Hague said......................http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/07/12/Fresh-Israeli-strikes-kill-3-taking-toll-to-over-120.html
12/7/14
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