July 20, 2014: Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor speaks during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the worsening situation in Gaza at United Nations headquarters. (Photo: AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Even as Israeli Defense Forces are combing a network of “complex and advanced” underground “terror tunnels,” the United Nations Security Council called for an immediate halt to fighting in the Gaza Strip. At an emergency session Sunday evening, the council opted for the statement instead of a draft resolution that would have called for Israeli forces to withdraw from the territory.
The draft resolution had been proposed by Jordan, which had requested the meeting of the Security Council as the Arab League’s representative on the panel.The draft resolution expressed “grave concern” at the number of Palestinian civilians reportedly killed in Gaza. A press statement issued by the UN Security Council expressed “serious concern at the escalation of violence,” called for the protection of civilians and said it was troubled by the growing number of casualties.
Despite ignoring the two cease-fires Hamas has broken since the violence began, as well as the attacks launched from terror tunnels over the weekend, Palestinian United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour was disappointed.
“We were hoping for the Security Council to adopt a resolution to condemn the aggression against our people,” he told reporters. He he also said Sunday’s council statement was “a test” for Israel to see if it would comply.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza “an atrocious action” prior to the closed-door meeting. However, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosnor, defended the military campaign he said was the result of Israel being forced to defend itself against rocket attacks launched by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. He also argued that the Israeli military was using restraint and taking measures to reduce civilian casualties. In fact, the IDF released a video last week showing just how many attacks are called off to avoid civilian casualties, despite Hamas hiding among innocents.
Meanwhile, Hamas terrorists wearing Israeli army uniforms infiltrated central Gaza through a terror tunnel Saturday, attacking an Israeli army patrol and killing two Israeli soldiers. Later Saturday, another attempt to enter Israel through terror tunnels was thwarted when the Israeli military discovered Hamas operatives carrying handcuffs and tranquilizers, in what was an apparent attempt to kidnap soldiers.
The militants were all killed. And, again on Saturday, a Hamas militant climbed out of an unknown, concealed tunnel in southern Gaza and began to fire at Israeli soldiers. Earlier Sunday, UN Ambassador Prosor denied reports that Hamas had succeeded in capturing an Israel Defense Forces soldier.
Then, early Monday, a spokesman for the Israeli military said two “terrorists squads” had infiltrated Israel through another terror tunnel located in northern Gaza. An Israeli aircraft successfully targeted one group, while the second fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli army vehicle. Ten of them were killed by return fire, according to the spokesman.
The UN Security Council meeting took place after news of two American-born IDF soldiers, California-born Max Steinberg,24, and Texas native Sean Carmeli, 21, were killed in the fighting over the weekend. Twenty Israelis have died since the offensive began last week, while Gaza Health Ministry officials said Monday that 501 Palestinians had been killed, though it is not clear how many of those were Hamas militants.
It has been grossly under-reported that Hamas was in dire financial straits prior to the outbreak of fighting, because a tight crack-down of the blockade by Egypt and Israel had stopped cash and weapons from coming into the strip through hundreds of these smuggling tunnels. These conditions led many in the U.S. intel community to investigate whether the three kidnapped teenagers were to be ransomed by Hamas, but later killed when it became clear Israeli military raids would be the strategic response by the Israeli government.
While both Israeli and U.S. officials have said there was a substantial amount of evidence to show Hamas was responsible, PPD has yet to see evidence of a ransom, though the financial incentive was real and strong.
Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive in Cairo Monday to try to hatch out the terms of a new cease-fire. President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Kerry would seek a cease-fire based on the truce agreed to by Israel and Hamas in November 2012. In that agreement, Israel agreed to stop incursions into Gaza as long as Hamas and other Palestinian factions agreed to stop attacking Israel.
In a conversation with an aide picked up by a hot microphone while Kerry was waiting to conduct television interviews Sunday morning, he commented on the continuing fighting in Gaza.
“It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation. It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” he said in a sarcastic tone, in a clip aired on Fox News Sunday.
Kerry also said Israel had the right to target the terror tunnels and the U.S. supported those efforts.
“You have a right to go in and take out those tunnels,” he said. “We completely support that and we support Israel’s right to defend itself against rockets that are continuing to come in.”
The “terror tunnels” used by Hamas, the Israeli military said in a statement on Friday, are “complex and advanced.” Hamas uses the tunnels “to carry out attacks such as abductions of Israeli civilians and soldiers alike; infiltrations into Israeli communities, mass murders and hostage-taking scenarios.”
Kerry said it is up to Hamas to agree to a truce, but with the reality of the situation on the ground being what it is, Kerry’s
“It is important for Hamas to now step up and be reasonable and understand that you accept the cease-fire, you save lives,” he said “And that’s the way we can proceed to have a discussion about all of the underlying issues.”
Following the UN Security Council meeting, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin actually stepped out of the meeting briefly to complain to reporters. He said the council had been summoned to meet without a specific proposal to discuss, or any hope for a deal.
“Why have this meeting?” Churkin asked. “The Security Council is put in a very awkward position. Obviously, nothing is going to come out of it.”
