Qatar condemns Gaza offensive

Acting on behalf of Arab nations, Qatar circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution today demanding Israel end its offensive in the Gaza Strip and release the Palestinian officials it has arrested.

The draft faced immediate opposition from the United States and France, which called it unbalanced in its criticism of Israel.

France’s ambassador said he would offer changes, but US Ambassador John Bolton suggested that Washington opposed the resolution entirely.

That raised the possibility that the United States, as a permanent member of the Security Council, would veto the resolution.

It has done so in the past when it believed resolutions condemning Israeli action did not include criticism of Palestinian actions.

Experts from the 15 Security Council nations were to meet later to discuss the draft, but Bolton was not optimistic.

“I’m not sure there are amendments that we could propose that would make it into an acceptable resolution, but we want to attend this experts meeting and see what comes of it,” he said.

Israel launched the offensive last week in response to the capture of an Israeli soldier, 19-year-old Cpl Gilad Shalit.

Earlier Thursday, Israeli troops seized empty Jewish settlements and pushed toward densely populated towns, killing at least 12 Palestinians. One Israeli soldier was killed, its first fatality in the offensive.

The resolution calls on Israel to “scrupulously abide by its obligations and responsibilities under the Geneva Convention,” and expresses its “grave concern about the dire humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people.

It demands that Israel “cease its aggression against the Palestinian civilian population” in Gaza, and also demands that Israel withdraw its forces immediately.

The document makes no mention of Shalit’s kidnapping or of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.

France’s UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said his nation would try to make the resolution more acceptable to the wider council.

“We think that this text needs to be balanced, it’s not balanced enough and we will propose amendments,” he said. “It requires, we think, a lot of work.”