UN Security Council paralysed after 59 Gaza protesters are shot dead while US ambassador applauds Israel’s ‘restraint’
As the United Nations Security Council met on Tuesday, violence flared again on the Israel-Gaza border, with two more Palestinians killed. On Monday, 59 Palestinians were killed and 2,700 injured
The UN Security Council found itself paralysed on Tuesday in the wake of mass violence on the Israel-Gaza border that saw 59 Palestinian protesters shot dead and 2,700 injured by Israeli soldiers, with Arab nations denouncing the violence and the US praising Israel’s “restraint”.
The session was called by Kuwait, the only Arab nation with a seat on the council, after the violence, which overshadowed Monday’s opening of the new United States embassy in Jerusalem, a move that has infuriated Palestinians.
But as the talks continued, violence flared once more on the Israel-Gaza border, leading to at least two more Palestinians being killed.
Despite widespread denunciation of the killings, which Israel has justified as being necessary to protect its soldiers, the Security Council found itself unable to come to a resolution on Tuesday.
After the meeting, Kuwait said it would circulate a draft resolution on “providing international protection to the Palestinian people”. Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi has maintained that Israel was violating international law and that the council needed to step in.
Otaibi said the draft would be circulated “most probably tomorrow”. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said negotiations would then begin to try to get the resolution adopted.
As the United Nations met and the families of those killed on Monday buried the dead, there was a recurrence of violence.