UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss the recent escalating tensions between the Israeli-occupation troops and Palestinian resistance forces in the Gaza Strip.
In a press statement, the 15-member Council announced that it will gather at 3:00 p.m. local time (midnight PST) to deliberate on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.”
Brazil, which holds the UN Security Council presidency, announced Saturday that it would call a meeting of the body to address the escalating violence.
“The Brazilian government condemns the series of bombings and ground attacks carried out today in Israel starting from the Gaza Strip,” Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Brazil will convene an emergency meeting of the Security Council and “urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid escalating the situation,” it added.
Meanwhile, the top UN officials said they are “in close contact with all concerned to urge maximum restraint” following “horrific scenes of violence”.
Palestinian Authority calls for emergency Arab League meeting
Expressing deep concern for the civilian population and urging maximum restraint, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said all diplomatic efforts are being made to avoid a wider conflagration.
He said violence cannot provide a solution to the conflict and peace can be achieved only through negotiation that lead to a two-state solution.
Gaza-based Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel Saturday morning, firing thousands of rockets and sending gunmen into Israeli communities by land, sea and air.
The multi-pronged attack appears to have caught the Israeli military and security forces completely by surprise.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan sent a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Sergio Franca Danese, the Brazilian ambassador who holds the Security Council presidency this month, calling on the Security Council
