“The Security Council must condemn the double war crime of Islamic Jihad”, said G. Erdan
The UN Security Council is due to meet urgently on Monday followingnoon to discuss the situation in Gaza, the day following a truce between Islamic Jihad and Israel following three days of deadly conflict.
China, which chairs the Security Council in August, announced the emergency meeting on Saturday, Ambassador Zhang Jun saying he was “very worried regarding the situation in Gaza”.
Despite the truce announced on Sunday, the consultations were still maintained.
The truce came into effect at 11:30 p.m. (local time) on Sunday, negotiated by Egypt, which is the historic intermediary between Israel and the Palestinian armed groups. The two belligerents, however, indicated that they reserve the right to respond in the event of violation by the other party.
The Israeli army presented its operation launched Friday as a preemptive attack once morest Islamic Jihad, during which its main military leaders in Gaza, Tayssir Al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour, were killed along with several members of the group.
Between the start of this Israeli operation and Sunday evening, 44 Palestinians including 15 children died and 360 were injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Israeli authorities said some of the Palestinians killed, including several children, perished due to failed Islamic Jihad rocket fire at Israel that fell in the Palestinian enclave.
In a press statement Monday morning at the United Nations, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan blamed “all responsibility” on Islamic Jihad, accusing it of using Gaza residents as a “human shield”.
“If the Security Council really wants to improve the situation in Gaza, it must condemn the double war crime of Islamic Jihad and place full responsibility for the killings of innocent Palestinians on the shoulders of the terrorist group,” he said. .
According to several diplomatic sources, at this stage, no statement from the Security Council is expected at the end of the emergency meeting.