Anger as UN debates Gaza blockade 

  
 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_enl_1201019772/html/1.stm) 
Rafah has been mainly shut since June at Israel's  insistence

_Enlarge Image_ 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_enl_1201019772/html/1.stm) 

Israeli  and Palestinian envoys have clashed at the United Nations Security 
Council  during a debate on Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.  
The Palestinian UN observer accused Israel of fuelling violence, while  the 
Israeli envoy said his country had to protect its people from rocket  attacks.  
The council was considering a call for Israel to allow humanitarian aid  to 
enter Gaza freely.  
Earlier, Israel eased its four-day Gaza lockdown by allowing fuel  
deliveries.  
But it has indicated restrictions may be re-imposed if rocket attacks  
continue.  
Meanwhile, 60 women were injured, when Egyptian police broke up a  protest 
against the siege and shots were fired.  
  
 
It is the duty of all states to ensure the  right to life and safety of its 
people 



Gilad Cohen
Israeli ambassador to the  UN

The police had fired into the air and used water cannon to drive back  
Palestinian women who tried to surge across the Rafah border crossing  between Egypt 
and Gaza.  
Hundreds of Palestinians demanded the crossing be reopened to allow the  
passage of vital supplies made scarce by the blockade.  
And early on Wednesday, a Hamas militant was killed during an exchange  of 
fire near Gaza's border with Israel, Palestinian officials said.  
Residents near the closed Sufa crossing said Israeli tanks crossed into  the 
Strip after the clash, Reuters news agency reported.  
Talks adjourned  
Tuesday's day-long council debate had been requested by Arab and  Islamic 
states amid a growing international outcry at what the European  Union termed the 
"collective punishment" of Gaza's 1.5m residents.  
Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour said the council "must demand  that 
Israel, the occupying power, immediately cease its collective  punishment of the 
Palestinian people".  
But Israeli representative Gilad Cohen denied that Israel was violating  
international law.  
"It is the duty of all states to ensure the right to life and safety of  its 
people, especially from vicious acts of violence and terrorism," he  said, 
adding that Israel would "ensure the humanitarian welfare" of Gaza.  
Israel imposed its blockade last week in response to rocket attacks  from 
Gaza, and the UN had warned that food aid to about 860,000 Gazans  could be 
halted within days as a result.  
Libya, the council chair this month, had drafted a text that would call  on 
Israel to end its blockade of Gaza and ensure "unhindered access for  
humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people".  
Council split  
But American and French representatives to the UN said the current  draft was 
unacceptable as it did not refer to militant rocket attacks on  Israel from 
within the Gaza Strip.  
  




_Gaza's  rocket threat to Israel_ 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3702088.stm) 
_'Wartime'  on Israeli border_ 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7203040.stm) 
_Gaza  diary: Day  One_ 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7203458.stm) 

French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the draft "ought to be  amended to 
take into account all aspects of the deteriorating situation in  Gaza."  
UN under secretary general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe had  earlier 
briefed the council and demanded Israel "reconsider and cease its  policy of 
pressuring the civilian population of Gaza for the unacceptable  actions of 
militants".  
Israel has said the council discussions were one-sided.  
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice blamed Hamas for the lockdown  but 
said she had urged Israel to avoid a humanitarian crisis.  
Israel allowed lorries to deliver industrial diesel for Gaza's sole  power 
plant on Tuesday.  
The Israeli foreign ministry said it would allow more fuel to be  delivered 
in the coming days along with food and medicine.  
'Futile launchings'  
But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas labelled the move  
"insufficient" and called for a total end to the blockade.  
He said civilians in Gaza were not responsible for the "futile  launchings" 
of rockets into Israel.  
The blockade forced the Nusseirat power plant to shut down on Monday,  
plunging Gaza City into  darkness.



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