Bombing raids continue after UN finally calls for ceasefire

Israel made at least 30 bombing raids on Gaza overnight, taking the estimated death toll among Palestinians to 770, after the UN Security Council finally issued a resolution on Thursday night calling for a ceasefire.

The resolution, drafted mainly by the British, "stresses and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza".

Fourteen out of the 15 Security Council members voted for the resolution, with the United States abstaining. According to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, while the White House agreed with the text and goals of the resolution, they thought it important "to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation efforts, in order to see what this resolution might have been supporting".

The resolution came after three days of intense discussion at the UN headquarters in New York, with Arab nations piling on the pressure against Israeli opposition.

Although the US abstention weakens the impact of the vote, the fact that the US supported the resolution in principle and did not vote against it was seen as a breakthrough. Earlier in the week, the US had blocked even the issuing of a press statement about the conflict in Gaza. Some observers believe President George W Bush might want to leave office on a positive note.

Putting aside the American abstention, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in New York: "Tonight - at last - the UN is speaking clearly with one voice. It's speaking clearly for a ceasefire, clearly for action on smuggling of arms, clearly on the opening of crossings. And it's trying to speak up for the people of the Middle East, whether they live in Gaza or in Israel, because, in the end, they're going to have to live next door to each other."

Miliband said the resolution had three main objectives: a call for an immediate ceasefire; the end to the rearmament of Hamas through the Egypt-Gaza smuggling tunnels; and the opening of border crossings between Gaza and both Israel and Egypt to allow the flow of vital supplies.

There had been no official Israeli reaction to the UN vote by Friday morning, though Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel would continue to act bearing the security of its citizens in mind.

Meanwhile, the UN is reporting that 30 Palestinians died earlier this week when Israeli forces shelled a house into which the civilians, including children, had been moved by Israeli soldiers.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 9, 2009