GAZA/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The
United Nations Security Council on Saturday called for “the full adherence” to a ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and stressed the immediate need for
humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians.
اضافة اعلان
The 15-member council issued a statement, which had to be
agreed to by consensus, after being unable to speak during the 11-day conflict
due to opposition by the United States. The French mission to the United
Nations said it has put on hold its push for a resolution on the issue.
Meanwhile, Egyptian mediators sought to reinforce the
day-old ceasefire on Saturday, and aid officials appealed for a period of calm
to start tackling a humanitarian crisis in Gaza after 11 days of fighting.
The ceasefire, which began before dawn on Friday, was still
holding on Saturday evening, enabling officials to start assessing the scale of
the damage.
Despite confrontations between Israeli occupation forces and
Palestinian protesters at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, there were no reports of
Hamas rocket launches from the Gaza Strip or Israeli air strikes on the
Palestinian enclave overnight or on Saturday.
Rockets fired by Hamas and other groups paralyzed towns in
southern Israel during the hostilities, and caused widespread panic, but did
much less damage than the bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs at tens of
millions of dollars in Gaza, where medical officials said 248 people were
killed in the fighting.
A senior UN official who toured the densely populated
coastal enclave on Saturday warned of increased health risks and widespread
despair after homes, roads, and other vital infrastructure including hospitals
were damaged or destroyed.
"Everybody just needs to stand down and not to engage
in any provocative moves," Lynn Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for
the Palestinian territories, said in a rubble-strewn area of Gaza City where
she spoke to survivors.
Economists said Israel's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
could be curbed by the hostilities and medics said rocket attacks had killed 13
people in Israel before the ceasefire.
After mediating the ceasefire with US support, Egypt sent a
delegation to Israel on Friday to discuss ways of firming up the truce,
including with aid for Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas officials told Reuters.
The delegates have since been shuttling between Israel and
the Strip, and on Saturday met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the city
of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, an aide to the Palestinian leader said.
A source familiar with planning said US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken would visit Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday,
hoping to build on the ceasefire. Mahmoud, however, has little influence in
Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas. US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that
Washington would work with the United Nations on bringing humanitarian and
reconstruction assistance to Gaza.
Humanitarian concern
After her tour in the Gaza Strip, Hastings voiced confidence
that existing aid mechanisms in Gaza would "make sure that assistance does
not fall into the hands that is not intended to be directed towards."
Gaza has for years been subjected to an Israeli blockade
that restricts the passage of people and goods, as well as restrictions by
Egypt.
Both countries cite concerns about weapons reaching Hamas.
Palestinians say the restrictions amount to collective punishment of
Gaza's 2
million population.
Hastings said she was worried by people being crammed
together into crowded accommodation more than ever following the destruction of
many residential buildings.
"During
COVID it was bad enough here, there was a
massive spike in cases right before the escalation. Now people are sheltering
together," she said.
Israel says its air strikes were a response to Hamas firing
rockets at Israeli cities on May 10, following Israeli occupation forces’ raids
on Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and clashes with Palestinians during the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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