It said there should be "unimpeded
provision" and distribution of aid to the territory, where more than
763 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its
offensive.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN
secretary-general, said he was "heartened and relieved" by the
passing of the resolution.
US abstention
The UN chief, who will visit the
Middle East next week for talks on the crisis, said the UN "stands
ready" and that a ceasefire would be a "first step", but that "a
political way forward is required to deliver long-term security and
peace".
The text was the product of days of
tortuous negotiations between top diplomats from the United States,
Britain and France and Arab states.
Arab countries, many facing strong
anti-Israeli sentiment at home, insisted the Security Council must
issue a binding resolution that would force Israel to end its
military campaign in the Gaza Strip immediately.
Israel had opposed the idea of a
binding UN resolution.
The United States had backed its
ally Israel but diplomats said it dropped its objections and agreed
to go along with a cautiously worded text.
Despite the abstention, Rice said
the United States supported the contents of the resolution.
"The United States thought it
important to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation efforts in
order to see what this resolution might have been supporting," she
said.
But Riad al-Maliki, the Palestinian
foreign minister, seemed less than convinced that the UN resolution
would bring about an immediate end to violence in Gaza.
He said he feared that the Israelis
would expand their Gaza offensive in the next few days, to hit more
targets before any truce comes into effect.
'Partial victory'
Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry,
reporting from the UN, said the resolution was only a partial
victory for Arab leaders, who succeeded in pushing through a
resolution when the US and other nations were keener on issuing a
non-binding "presidential statement".
But they were also frustrated that
an earlier Libya proposal was abandoned in favour for the US, UK and
France resolution, our correspondent added.
Fakhry said it was "difficult to
see how this [the resolution] is going to be enforced given the fact
that the United States has decided to abstain thereby sending a
clear signal that it will not do anything whatsoever to pressure its
closest ally [Israel]".
Though the UN resolution is legally
binding, it does not have any enforcement mechanism, and Israel has
ignored dozens of UN resolutions over the years, our correspondent
said.
It was also unclear whether Hamas
would accept a text which does not mention the lifting of Israel's
18-month blockade on Gaza, which it has demanded, she added.
"Israel as a member state of the
United Nations they have to really adhere to the resolution and the
moment that they do so I believe Hamas will do the same," al-Maliki
said.
Delay rejected
Al Jazeera understands that the
French delegation had asked for another 24 hours to work out the
draft resolution, drawing a furious response from the Saudi
delegation, who said that they would not wait any longer as
civilians were dying by the minute.
An agreement was finally reached
after Arab foreign ministers made some amendments to the draft
sponsored by the US, UK and France, allowing them to get on board
with the draft and drop their bid to support another draft
resolution sponsored by Libya.
Libya, currently the only Arab
nation serving as a non-permanent member of the security council,
had been urging council members to back its own version of a
resolution, although the US had blocked an earlier Libyan draft that
Washington and its allies saw as being anti-Israeli.
More than 763 Palestinians have
been killed, including more than 200 children, since the Israeli
offensive began on December 27. More than 3,121 people have also
been wounded.
Eight Israeli soldiers and three
civilians have died in the same period.
Original link :
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/01/2009191340884788.html
Link to this page :
http://www.holylandfree.org/UN-GazaCeasefire9gen2009.htm
