U.N reaches to an agreement on Gaza cease-fire resolution

Arab and Western diplomats made a statement saying that the U.N Security Council had finally reached an agreement on a cease fire resolution for the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

The preliminary draft of the resolution expressed its grave concerns over the humanitarian suffering and the large number of civilian casualties that have resulted from the fighting between the two sides.

More than 750 Palestinians have been killed in the thirteen day military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The death count on the Israeli side has gone up to thirteen, three of them civilians and ten of them soldiers.

The U.N Security Council has not however specified a date for the voting on the resolution. The draft of the resolution says “stresses the urgency of, and calls for, an immediate, durable, and fully respected cease-fire which will lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

In recent talks the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has also tried to broker in a cease fire between the two warring nations. His efforts have been commended in the resolution draft. The draft also asks that a safe passage should be given to aid workers so that humanitarian relief goods like food and water can be brought to the suffering people of Gaza. The people of Gaza are not only suffering a shortage of food and water rather they have been experiencing a shortage of medicines and electricity as well.

The Council has been wrangling over the precise wordings of the resolution. The Arab members wanted the wordings to be directed towards Israel to stop its attacks whereas the Western diplomats wanted to call upon both sides equally. A meeting that was to be held at 5:30 pm on Thursday was postponed by the U.N General Assemble in anticipation of a vote by the Security Council.

The assembly president Miguel d’Escoto commented in written statement “We will closely analyze the resolution and determine whether it is serious, and contemplates the pertinent measures — both to ensure the immediate cease-fire and the unimpeded access to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people.”

The Israeli military has stated that’s its agenda in the current operation is to stop the rocket attacks which have been initiated by Hamas on southern Israel.