Palestinians Seeks Protection Force From U.N.Palestinian U.N. Observer Nasser Al-Kidwa on Wednesday called on the United Nations Security Council to convene an urgent meeting and to send a U.N. force to protect Palestinians in the occupied territories.In a letter to the Security Council, Al-Kidwa said it had "become very clear that Israel is ... persisting with its campaign of terror against the Palestinian people" in violation of the Fourth Convention on the protection of civilians in time of war. Israel was acting in blatant disregard of understanding reached at Sharm El-Sheikh summit which was held last week in Egypt, the observer said. Al-Kidwa said that three more Palestinians, including two children under the age of 18, were killed Tuesday and about 50 others wounded. "In light of the above, there is a clear and urgent need for the international community to provide the necessary protection for the Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem," he noted. "We call upon the Security Council to urgently convene a meeting to consider the situation and to establish a United Nations protection force to be dispatched in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, with the aim of providing much-needed protection for the Palestinian civilian population," he added. Palestinians early this month wanted the Security Council to convene an urgent meeting on the Middle East violence but failed due to the boycott of the United States, a strong ally of Israel. Supported by the Arab nations, Palestinians sought an emergency special session of the General Assembly which was held on October 18 and 20. A resolution was adopted at the end of the meeting which condemned the excessive use of force by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians. Brokered by the international community, Israeli and Palestinian leaders met last week in Egypt where they agreed to take steps to end the violence prompted by the visit on September 28 of Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a Jerusalem holy shrine. |
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