UNHRC slams Israel's actions in Gaza

January 24, 2008
The Jerusalem Post
Original Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070783680&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The UN's top human rights body on Thursday passed a resolution condemning Israeli http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070783680&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull \t _new military action in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Palestinians return with groceries from Egypt to the Gaza Strip at Rafah border crossing.
Photo: AP
The resolution, which also demands the lifting of the blockade on Gaza and calls for international action to protect Palestinian civilians, was proposed by Arab and Muslim countries and passed by 30 votes in favor, with 15 abstentions, during an emergency session of the 47-member UN Human Rights Council. 
European countries abstained from the vote on the grounds that the resolution did not address the firing of rockets by Palestinian terrorists into Israel territory. 
On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council grappled for a response to the situation in the Gaza Strip and Israel's UN mission was busy http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070783680&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull \t _new lobbying UNSC member countries to amend the draft presidential statement to include condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, which the original neglects to mention. 
Council experts met behind closed doors Wednesday morning to amend a Libyan draft statement that calls on Israel to end its siege of Gaza and ensure unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, but makes no mention of the rocket attacks that triggered the blockade. 
Also Thursday, UNRWA, the http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070783680&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull \t _new United Nations agency aiding Palestinian refugees, urged Arab Gulf countries Thursday to provide about $9.8 million in aid money for Gaza. 
The money would buy food, medicine and other supplies for Palestinians - especially children and pregnant women - suffering under the blockade of Gaza, said Peter Ford, a representative for UNRWA's commissioner general. 
It would also fund fuel for hospitals and cash assistance to the needy, he said. 
The siege has led to a significant increase in the burden on Palestinian civilians, Ford said. 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also voiced his concern of a mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza. However, Ban - who was speaking with President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Davos, Switzerland - also asserted that Israel had the right to defend itself. 
According to http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070783680&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull \t _new Army Radio, Peres replied that Israel would not allow the situation in the Strip to deteriorate to hunger and would not collectively punish the population there. 
Livni made it clear that Hamas could not be a part of the negotiations. We are holding clandestine talks with the Palestinian Authority so that the [two] sides can arrive at an agreement on all the issues on the agenda. 
Meanwhile, Five Kassam rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip Thursday evening. 
The rockets fell in open areas outside of Sderot, and there were no reports of casualties. 
Michal Lando contributed to this report