USA blocks statement by the UN Security Council criticizing the Israeli siege of the Gaza strip.
The US representative in the UN, Zalman Zad, said that this statement ‘is not fair and does not consider the fact that the Palestinian home made shells are the cause of the crisis in Gaza.’
The statement was called for by the Arab states that have representatives in the UN, the statement demanded that Israel immediately halts its siege and attacks on Gaza.
Israel and the US objected to the statement, saying it was not fair.
Last week Israeli army attacks on Gaza left 37 Palestinians killed and 70 injured, while Palestinian attacks only lightly injured 3 Israelis.
On Thursday last week, the Israeli government decided to keep pressure on the Gaza Strip by further attacking Palestinian resistance groups. On Friday Israel declared all Gaza’s crossings completely closed, with a total ban of fuel and supplies to the coastal region. By Sunday Gaza had no electricity as the Solo Gaza power plant depends on Israeli Fuel.
After a widespread international outcry following Israel cutting off of all fuel into Gaza, that left Gaza without electricity, the Israeli authorities agreed to allow fuel and medicine into the Palestinian coastal region on Tuesday for one day only.
The representatives of some European countries, who refused to announce their identity, told reporters today that they are also concerned about the statement being unfair towards Israel.
The Palestinian monitor in the UN Raid Mansour, said that the situation in Gaza can’t be tolerated from a moral point of view, he added that Israel is pushing for a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
The Israeli UN representative Gilad Cohen said that Israel has the right to defend its self and blamed the Palestinian resistance for the situation in Gaza.
