‘The violence must stop’: France pushes for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on Israeli-Palestinian violence
- France has pushed for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution
- ‘The shooting must stop, the time has come for a ceasefire,’ it said in a statement
- The 15-member Council on Tuesday held its third private meeting in a week
France has pushed for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Zhang Jun, Beijing’s ambassador to the UN, told reporters his team had heard the proposal and ‘for China, definitely, we are supportive’ of efforts to end the crisis and secure peace in the Middle East.
Following talks between Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, the French presidency said in a statement: ‘Overall, the 3 countries agreed on 3 simple elements: the shooting must stop, the time has come for a ceasefire, the U.N. Security Council must take up the subject and we have also called for a vote on a resolution on the subject.’
The 15-member Security Council on Tuesday held its third private meeting in a week on the worst violence between Israel and the Palestinians in years.
France has pushed for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Above, French President Emmanuel Macron is pictured on Tuesday
The council also met publicly on Sunday, but has been unable to agree a press statement, which needs consensus support, due to the objection of the United States.
‘We have not been silent and neither have you,’ Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Tuesday, according to a U.N. diplomat familiar with her remarks.
‘With regard to further Security Council action, we must assess if any given action or statement will advance prospects for ending the violence,’ she said. ‘We do not judge that a public pronouncement right now will help de-escalate.’
During the same meeting, diplomats said France raised the possibility of a Security Council resolution on the conflict. The French presidency then confirmed it was calling for such for a move. Diplomats said no draft text has been put forward.
‘The U.N. Security Council must take up the subject and we have also called for a vote on a resolution on the subject,’ the presidency said after talks between Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah.
The council also met publicly on Sunday, but has been unable to agree a press statement, which needs consensus support, due to the objection of the United States. Above, supporters of Palestine hold a protest in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC on Tuesday
Thomas-Greenfield told the council that Washington’s focus would continue to be intensive diplomacy to try and end the violence, noting there had so far been 60 high-level calls by senior U.S. officials, President Joe Biden.
She added: ‘President Biden expressed support for a ceasefire.’
French diplomats said they believe that a U.N. Security Council resolution could raise pressure on the parties to end hostilities, adding that any action in New York would complement other diplomatic initiatives and they think there is a way to make the United States ‘evolve’.
Israel unleashed an offensive on militants in Gaza after Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Gaza health officials said the Palestinian death toll so far was at least 212, including 61 children. Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children.