{"id":35004,"date":"2014-07-28T10:34:19","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T10:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=35004"},"modified":"2014-07-28T10:34:19","modified_gmt":"2014-07-28T10:34:19","slug":"un-security-council-calls-for-gaza-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/07\/un-security-council-calls-for-gaza-ceasefire\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Security Council calls for Gaza ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"
The UN Security Council has called for “an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas at an emergency meeting.<\/p>\n
The council met just after midnight on Monday morning as Muslims started celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from t a UN school shelter in Gaza, reported a subdued Eid.<\/p>\n
“They would normally be visiting their extended families, exchanging gifts, but instead 3,000 people are living here inside this school with around 30 people per room,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They say there aren’t enough blankets or water or food they don’t know how long they’ll be here for and they are desperate for a ceasefire.”<\/p>\n
The pressure for a ceasefire followed new attacks launched by Israel and Hamas on Sunday despite going back and forth over proposals for another temporary halt to nearly three weeks of fighting.<\/p>\n
A 12-hour lull on Saturday, agreed to by both sides following intense US and UN mediation efforts, could not be sustained.<\/p>\n
The 20-day war has killed more than 1,031 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.<\/p>\n
Israel has lost 43 soldiers, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker killed by rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza, according to the Israeli military.<\/p>\n
An unofficial, partial truce is being observed by Israel in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Israeli military sources said.<\/p>\n
A military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv confirmed that the air force was not carrying air strikes. But Israeli ground troops continue to search for and destroy tunnels in Gaza’s eastern border areas.<\/p>\n
The Security Council statement urged Israel and Hamas “to accept and fully implement the humanitarian ceasefire into the Eid period and beyond”.<\/p>\n
It said this would allow for the delivery of urgently needed assistance.<\/p>\n
The presidential statement also called on the parties “to engage in efforts to achieve a durable and fully respected ceasefire, based on the Egyptian initiative”.<\/p>\n