The UN Security Council has called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as Palestinian deaths continue to mount. An Israeli air strike on Gaza City on Saturday evening killed 15 people, local health officials say. At least 148 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its operation five days ago, Palestinian sources say. Israel said it was hit by about 90 rockets on Saturday, and several were intercepted over Tel Aviv. All 15 members the UN Security Council approved a statement calling for calm and peace talks. It is the first time since Israel’s offensive began that they issued a statement, with members previously divided on their response. The problem has been finding a form of words that Arab nations, represented on the Security Council by Jordan, find meaningful but which the US, Israel’s close ally, could also agree with, the BBC’s Nick Bryant reports from the UN. Text of UN Security Council statement The Security Council members expressed serious concern regarding the crisis related to Gaza and the protection and welfare of civilians on both sides. The Security Council members called for de-escalation of the situation, restoration of calm, and reinstitution of the November 2012 ceasefire. The Security Council members further called for respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians. The Security Council members also expressed their support for the resumption of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians with the aim of achieving a comprehensive peace agreement based on the two-state solution. Israel has vowed to press on with its campaign until rocket attacks stop. It says it is targeting militants and militant facilities, including the homes of senior operatives. “Dozens of terrorists” are among those killed, it says. However, the UN has estimated that 77% of the people killed in Gaza were civilians. Israel warned residents in the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening to leave their homes “for their own safety”. Fifteen people were killed in an air strike on the Gaza Strip which hit both a house and a mosque, Gaza emergency services spokesman · Two rockets launched from Lebanon hit open areas of northern Israel, causing no casualties or damage, the Israeli military said, adding that it had fired back with artillery · Three rockets fired at Tel Aviv were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system and a fourth landed in an open area, the Israeli army said, after Hamas military wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades issued a statement threatening to fire J-80 rockets at the city · Rockets launched from Gaza landed in the West Bank, near Hebron and Bethlehem, but caused no injuries and minor damage ‘No knockout’ Israel is deploying an eighth “Iron Dome” anti-missile battery as it mobilises thousands of army reservists for a possible land operation inside Gaza. A senior military official said Israel estimated Hamas still had thousands of rockets in its arsenal and it would take Israel more time to eliminate the threat to its civilians. Israelis watched the fighting in Gaza from a hill near Sderot on Saturday Israeli tanks are in position near the Gaza Strip “There is no knockout,” he told the Associated Press news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It is more complicated.” A spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, said it would not “beg for calm” and would “continue to defend” its people. “Once we are offered a genuine, coherent and serious proposal, we will look into it,” he added, quoted by Reuters news agency. In Bethlehem, Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers. Other protests in support of Palestinians were held in Libya and France. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said he will discuss with his US, French and German counterparts the need for a ceasefire when they meet on Sunday in Vienna. Israel and militants in Gaza fought an eight-day war in November 2012, which ended with a truce. Rocket fire and air strikes increased after the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June, which Israel blamed on Hamas and which led to a crackdown on the group in the West Bank. Hamas denied being behind the killings. Tensions rose further after the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem on 2 July. Six Jewish suspects were arrested over the youth’s abduction and murder. — BBC online
