UNSC convenes on Gaza if parties fail to reach ceasefire

Acting upon recommendation from the Arab group, the Security Council late Tuesday decided to hold an open meeting on Gaza, Wednesday afternoon, if the parties to the conflict - Israel, Hamas, and other Palestinian factions - fail to reach an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, India's Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters late Tuesday. Speaking in his national capacity, and not as Council President, following hours of consultations that followed an Arab group meeting, Puri said, "what we have agreed to is that there will be an open meeting of the council tomorrow (Wednesday) at 15:00 hours (New York time)." "Naturally, we are closely monitoring developments in Cairo. There was expectation that there would be an announcement of a cessation of hostilities. If there is such an agreement and information becomes available by Wednesday morning, clearly, the need for that meeting may have to be reassessed," he added. If no agreement is reached, he noted, "the council will assume full responsibility ... The idea is for the council to send a message that helps calm the situation, which asks the parties to de-escalate and to cease violence. That is the spirit in which we are working." Diplomats said that the council would also hold the open meeting even if a ceasefire is reached but does not hold. Palestinian Ambassador Ryad Manour told reporters following the council consultations that had the council adopted an Arab-sponsored press statement on Tuesday morning calling for a ceasefire, that "would have helped the parties to reach an agreement." That move was blocked by the US. The Arab group vowed on Monday that if the council fails to adopt the press statement on Tuesday, it would automatically call for a council open meeting. "It is the business of the Security Council to deal with this explosive situation ... to maintain international peace and security. It cannot be paralyzed. It cannot be neutralized, and it cannot be marginalized," Mansour stressed. "If there is no stoppage of this aggression against our people at any time during the night or the early hours of Wednesday, then there is no way but for the council to shoulder its responsibility and to convene this meeting and to adopt whatever measures that they can adopt in order to stop this aggression," he suggested. "We will not rest for a moment until the Ccuncil and the entire international community succeeds in bringing this aggression to an end," he insisted. Mansour has been sending letters to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Council President Puri complaining about Israel's "war crimes" and acts of "State terrorism,", noting that so far, over 140 Palestinians have died and close to a thousand more were injured, mainly women and children, as a result of Israeli air strikes.