Ban to visit Egypt, Israel next week

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Egypt and Israel next week, on his way to attend a Conference on Climate Change in Qatar, to discuss the escalation of the conflict in Gaza, at a time the Arab group has prepared a draft resolution to be circulated in the Security Council next week, a diplomat told KUNA late Thursday. Doha is hosting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Conference of Parties (COP) 18 scheduled to be held from November 26 to December 7. Ban is expected to discuss with Egyptian and Israeli officials the danger of the escalation and the need to stop the violence. Hamas is showering Israel with rockets and Israel is conducting a military campaign that killed a number of Palestinians, including the Hamas military Chief Ahmed Al-Jabari. Hamas vowed that Israel will pay a "high price" for his assassination. Ban spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi about the "worrisome escalation of violence in southern Israel and Gaza and the need to prevent any further deterioration," his press office said in a statement. Ban also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his concern about the deteriorating situation in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, which includes an alarming escalation of indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and the targeted killing by Israel of the Hamas military leader. He reiterated his strong condemnation of rocket fire out of Gaza and noted his expectation that Israeli reactions are measured so as not to provoke a new cycle of bloodshed that could cause additional civilian casualties and have dangerous spillover effects in the region. An Arab group delegation, comprising the Ambassadors of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, Sudan, Palestine and the League of Arab States, met late Thursday with Ban to discuss the escalation of the conflict in Gaza and the need to stop the bloodshed. The delegation asked Ban to "use his good offices for bringing an end to this aggression against our people," Palestinian Ambassador Ryad Mansour told reporters following the meeting. Asked what Ban's response was, he said "it was very positive." The delegation also met earlier in the day with the Security Council President Hardeep Singh Puri of India and presented to him elements for a "draft resolution or Presidential statement" to be adopted by the Council next week, the diplomat said. Puri advised the delegation not to rush and to wait and to see how things develop, the diplomat added. The draft would condemn the military attack against the civilians, without mentioning Israel by name, call for an immediate ceasefire, for the unconditional opening of border crossings with Israel to allow humanitarian goods to go through, demand an end to the extrajudicial killings, and request the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the resolution at the "appropriate time." The delegation would accept a presidential statement if the draft resolution is not acceptable to some Council members, the diplomat noted. The Council met privately on Wednesday night at Egypt's request, but failed to take any action as the Arab group had requested. Late Thursday, Palestinian Ambassador Ryad Mansour sent more identical letters to Ban and Puri reiterating "our urgent appeal to the Security Council to ... act now to protect the Palestinian civilian population... War crimes are clearly being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people and this must be unequivocally condemned and stopped. "A strong message must be sent to Israel to cease immediately its military campaign in order to de-escalate this dangerous situation and to promote calm.