According to the Associated Press, the US blocked a security council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel’s launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Libya’s U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the only Arab member of the council, said the United States objected to “any outcome” during the closed council discussions on the proposed statement.
In other news, the NYT describes the latest occurrences better than I can summarize them for you here and notes the growing resentment and condemnation of the Israeli offensive.
The Israeli military said that they had “hit” dozens of armed Hamas operatives during exchanges of fire overnight. But Palestinian hospital officials said that only about six Hamas fighters had been killed since the start of the ground invasion, a figure that could not be confirmed. Hospital officials said that more than 30 civilians had been killed by Sunday afternoon and more than 100 wounded since Israeli troops had begun advancing…
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israel’s incursion into Gaza came in “brazen defiance” of international calls to end the offensive, according to Agence France-Presse.
“The Security Council’s silence and its failure to take a decision to stop Israel’s aggression since it began was interpreted by Israel as a green light,” he said in a statement.