Thursday, 8 January 2009
Senior Western and Arab diplomats continued a three-day-long push Thursday for a UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, even as Israeli officials said they were leery of any action that would bind them but not Hamas.
Progress appeared slow, with Arab leaders and members of the American, British and French delegations shuttling back and forth among conference rooms at UN headquarters in New York without stopping to speak with gathered reporters.
A copy of the draft resolution circulated Thursday afternoon included language calling for an "immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire" and supporting the efforts by the Egyptians to broker a deal with Hamas. The British proposal also called for "arrangements and guarantees" to prevent illicit trafficking of arms into Gaza and to ensure the re-opening of crossings on the basis of the 2005 agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Arab negotiators were pushing for the addition of language calling for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a lifting of the Israeli blockade on Gaza, both key sticking points.
The British draft also called for the continuation of negotiations on a comprehensive, two-state peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians as well as a reconciliation effort between Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, said they had not seen any draft resolutions and maintained their opposition to any Security Council action that would put Hamas on the same footing with Israel.
Israel, as a member state, would be legally bound by any resolution in a way that Hamas, operating outside the control of the Palestinian Authority's Fatah leadership and listed as a terrorist organization by the US and Israel, would not - an asymmetry typically not seen in conflicts involving Security Council consideration.
"This is why Israel says it did not want a [Security Council] meeting from the beginning," said Israeli mission spokeswoman Mirit Cohen. "[Hamas] is not part of the UN and you can't compare between a member state and a terrorist organization."
Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev told The Jerusalem Post earlier this week that negotiations should take place on the ground, while her predecessor, Danny Gillerman, told reporters on a conference call that the UN "should not play any role" in resolving the crisis.
Israeli diplomats were in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday for talks on an initiative by the presidents of Egypt and France that calls for a temporary truce. Hamas militants have yet to commit to coming to Cairo for talks and said they have major reservations about the plan.
Nonetheless, negotiators in New York continued their work, with American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner all extending their stays in order to continue talks.
By Thursday afternoon Arab negotiators agreed to set aside a draft resolution they had proposed calling for an immediate cease-fire in favor of a rival British initiative, backed by the US and France - all permanent members with the power to torpedo any Arab draft - according to a report from The Associated Press.
Details of the British text were not released. Earlier this week, the Americans proposed a three-part deal that stipulated an end to Hamas rocketing, a crackdown on smuggling into Gaza, and a return to the 2005 agreement to open crossings into Gaza.
Arab nations had been pressing for a Security Council vote Thursday on their newly revised resolution which not only demanded an end to all military activity in Gaza but also mentioned Hamas by name and called for an international force to prevent arms smuggling, two key U.S. demands.
"We cannot wait any more," said Arab League General Secretary Amr Moussa on Thursday morning. He added that he would wait for consultations with "the Western troika" before going back to the Security Council.
The Council failed to pass a statement condemning the violence last Saturday after the American delegation rejected a Libyan draft statement as biased against Israel. High-level meetings Tuesday and Wednesday left the council divided after the Arabs insisted on a legally binding resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops, while the US, Britain and France wanted a weaker statement emphasizing that a "durable cease-fire" requires guarantees on reopening border crossings and preventing arms smuggling by Hamas.
Miliband presented the British-drafted resolution Thursday morning. Arab ministers discussed that text then rejoined their Western counterparts for further talks.
"We're still working very hard. We're making some progress," Rice told reporters as she left one set of talks.
Meanwhile, the General Assembly was scheduled to convene Thursday evening for an emergency session about the Gaza conflict under the auspices of continuing an earlier debate about illegal Israeli settlement activity.
The Israeli mission sent a letter of protest to General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann accusing him of violating UN procedure by calling the plenary session while the Security Council continued working toward a resolution.
AP contributed to this report.
