- Past Insights
- Insights by Category
- Archives byDate
- 18 NOV 2012 — 24 NOV 2012
- 11 NOV 2012 — 17 NOV 2012
- 4 NOV 2012 — 10 NOV 2012
- 28 OCT 2012 — 3 NOV 2012
- 21 OCT 2012 — 27 OCT 2012
- 14 OCT 2012 — 20 OCT 2012
- 7 OCT 2012 — 13 OCT 2012
- 30 SEP 2012 — 6 OCT 2012
- 23 SEP 2012 — 29 SEP 2012
- 16 SEP 2012 — 22 SEP 2012
- 9 SEP 2012 — 15 SEP 2012
- 2 SEP 2012 — 8 SEP 2012
- View All Weeks
posted on TUE 20 NOV 2012 2:31 PM
Gaza ConsultationsCouncil members will meet in consultations at 3 p.m. today (20 November) to discuss this morning's request by Morocco, on behalf of the Arab Group, that the Security Council hold an open debate on the deteriorating situation in Gaza. It seems the idea of holding an open debate, if the Council failed to take any action on the situation in Gaza, was brought up on 17 November by a delegation representing the Arab League in a meeting with the President of the Council (India).
The formal request for an open debate came shortly after the US broke silence this morning on a draft press statement which was circulated last Friday (16 November) and negotiated at length yesterday (19 November)—it was put under silence yesterday evening until 9 a.m. this morning. The revised draft press statement called on all parties to immediately halt violence and expressed support for mediation efforts by Egypt and the Secretary-General. However, agreement could not be reached on how to reference the call to halt all launching of rockets from within Gaza into Israel. It seems the US viewed the launching of rockets from Gaza as the root cause of the current escalation of violence and wanted an explicit reference to this in the text. However, other members felt this would be unbalanced.
Also yesterday, Russia circulated and put in blue a draft resolution (S/2012/855) on the Gaza situation encouraging Israel and the Palestinian authorities to resume "a substantive bilateral negotiating process". It suggested that it would call for a vote if silence was broken on the draft press statement. However, at press time, it there was no indication that Russia had made a formal request for a vote on the draft resolution.
In the meantime, some Council members are concerned that any Council discussion of or response to the Gaza situation would struggle to keep up with developments on the ground. Today, the Secretary-General met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the Secretary-General for the Arab League, Nabil el-Araby, to discuss Egypt's mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas. Media reports this morning indicated that a truce may begin tonight and it is possible that the Council may take the step of welcoming such a truce. However, the same dynamics that made it difficult to agree to a press statement expressing concern over the escalation of violence may similarly hinder the possibility of a timely agreement on welcoming a truce.
Follow us on Twitter
About What's In Blue
When the Security Council approaches the final stage of negotiation of a draft resolution the text is printed in blue. What's In Blue is a series of insights produced by Security Council Report on evolving Security Council actions. These insights supplement our Monthly Forecasts and other reports and are designed to help interested UN readers keep up with what might soon be "in blue".
Security Council ReportWhat's in the news
posted on Tue 20 Nov 2012
Africa
- Rwanda's Kagame in Uganda for talks with Kabila. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is expected to hold talks with DRC President Joseph Kabila in Uganda after rebels claimed control of the eastern Congolese city of Goma, sources at Uganda's presidency said on Tuesday. The two presidents arrived at Uganda's Entebbe airport on Tuesday afternoon, and were due to meet Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni separately before holding face-to-face talks, said Ugandan sources. (Reuters)
- UN says peacekeepers cannot substitute for Congo army. MONUSCO cannot substitute for the efforts of national security forces including the Congo national army, said Eduardo del Buey, UN. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman on Tuesday. A senior UN source said earlier on Tuesday that the peacekeepers gave up defending Goma after the Congolese troops evacuated under pressure from the advancing rebels. (Reuters)
- Russian envoy in Sudan amid reports about initiative over Abyei issue. Russia's envoy for Africa, Mikhail Margelov, met Monday in Khartoum with Sudanese first vice-president, Ali Osman Taha, amid reports that he brings new proposals to settle Abyei issue. Also, different Sudanese officials said Russia is willing to defend Khartoum's position on Abyei at the Security Council and accused Washington of pushing for the AU endorsed proposal, to hold a referendum in Abyei without the participation of the Misseriya nomads, be referred to the Council. (Sudan Tribune)
- Mali Islamists claim Menaka victory against rebels. Militant Islamists in northern Mali say they have driven Tuareg-led rebels out of the desert town of Menaka. Rebels denied the claim, insisting that fighting in the area was still going on. Regional leaders from the ECOWAS agreed last week to send 3,000 troops to reclaim northern Mali, and the Security Council is due to discuss the plan in the next few weeks. (BBC)
- DRC M23 rebels enter Goma. Rebel fighters have entered central Goma, the main city in eastern DRC. The M23 rebels say they have captured Goma, but this has not been confirmed. President Joseph Kabila, who has flown to Uganda for talks, called on people to "resist", amid fears that the DRC war could resume. Aid agencies say tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the last five days. (BBC)
Asia
- France ends combat mission in Afghanistan. France has ended its combat mission in Afghanistan, pulling its last troops from a province northeast of Kabul. Tuesday's withdrawal of 500 combat troops from Kapisa province is part of President Francois Hollande's pledge to accelerate the country's exit from Afghanistan. Afghan security forces will now be in charge of maintaining security in the province. (VOA)
- Blast kills ex-Taliban who joined Afghan police. An Afghan official says a bombing in the country's west has killed a former Taliban commander who left the insurgency and joined the Afghan police force. A remote-controlled bomb went off early Tuesday near Noor Mohammad Jahani's house in the provincial capital, killing Jahani and wounding one of his bodyguards. Jahani repudiated his Taliban ties two years ago and joined the Afghan police force. (AP)
Middle East
- Israel denies Hamas report of truce. Israel and Palestinians officials Tuesday issued conflicting statements over whether a Gaza cease-fire deal has been reached. Hamas officials said that a Cairo-brokered truce to end seven days of cross-border volleys would take effect late Tuesday, but Israel spokesman Mark Regev tsaid that the announcements were premature. Israel had put a planned ground operation in Gaza "on hold" as diplomatic efforts swelled Tuesday to halt cross-border aerial strikes between Israel and Hamas militants, now in their seventh day. (VOA)
- Israel's Gaza offensive to end Tuesday, says Egypt. Egypt's president, Mohammed Morsi, predicted Tuesday that Israel's nearly weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip would end within hours, as diplomats from across the world raced across the region to negotiate a cease-fire to end relentless Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket attacks. Meanwhile US President Barack Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Mideast. (AP)
- Assad troops fight to oust rebels from Damascus. Syrian government troops backed by tanks battled to oust rebel forces from an opposition stronghold in a Damascus suburb on Tuesday in the heaviest fighting in the capital for months. In the country's north, rebel fighters stormed an air defense base that President Bashar al-Assad's military had used to bombard areas near the Turkish border. (Reuters)
- International envoy Brahimi holds meetings in Middle East on Syrian crisis. A UN spokesman said on Monday said that joint special representative Lakhdar Brahimi attended the Sir Bani Yas Forum over the weekend and then held other meetings in the region to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. The Forum was hosted by the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the UK's Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House. (Xinhua)
Past Insights View All
Categories Africa • Americas • Arms Control and Disarmament • Asia • Children and Armed Conflict • Counter-Terrorism • Europe • Justice and Criminal Accountability • Middle East • News Trends • Peacebuilding • Peacekeeping • Peacemaking • Protection of Civilians • UN Institutional Issues • Women, Peace and Security
Security Council Report
One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 885 Second Avenue at 48th Street, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10017
Telephone 212-759-9429 • Fax 212-759-4038
Email whatsinblue@securitycouncilreport.org
This project has been made possible by contributions from Switzerland, Luxembourg, Canada (IDRC) and Belgium.
Design: Point Five, NY • Webmaster: Murphy Web Consulting
Original Page: http://www.whatsinblue.org/2012/11/gaza-consultations.php