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U.N. Security Council to Meet on Middle East Sunday
Failed to hammer out a compromise on a draft resolution on the Middle East Saturday afternoon, the United Nations Security Council decided to continue its negotiations on Sunday morning.
A U.N. diplomat said at issue is still the repeated call by the Palestinians and its supporters in the 15-member Security Council that any council move must include a willingness to consider a U.N. observer mission in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to protect the Palestinians in the occupied territories, which Israel flatly rejects.
Before the Security Council, there are two draft resolutions. One was submitted on Tuesday by the seven members of the council who belong to the Nonaligned Movement, namely, Bangladesh, Colombia, Jamaica, Mali, Mauritius, Singapore and Tunisia.
The draft resolution expresses the council's determination to establish a U.N. force of military and police observers to be dispatched and deployed throughout the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
The other one was proposed on Thursday by four European members in the Security Council -- Britain, France, Norway and Ireland.
It asks the U.N. secretary-general to consult Israeli and Palestinians in search of agreement on any kind of mechanism to protect civilians, which did not mention the establishment of a U. N. force strongly demanded by the Palestinians.
The diplomat said at the moment, it is still uncertain whether the United States will approve any resolution, who is a strong ally of Israel.
The Security Council rejected in December 8 a draft resolution demanding the deployment of a U.N. force in the occupied Palestinian territories. The draft resolution failed to pass the council as only eight members voted in favor. The other seven members abstained. The result was one vote shy of the minimum votes for passage.
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