RAMALLAH: A senior Palestinian official yesterday said that President Mahmoud Abbas will head to New York today as part of Arab diplomatic efforts to end the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip.
Sa’eb Erekat, head of PLO Negotiations Department, said that Abbas will lead the Arab delegation to pass a binding UN Security Council resolution that would “stop the military attacks” and “end the act of aggression against the Palestinian people.”
Arab League on Wednesday decided to dispatch a ministerial delegation to New York to continue its efforts to stop the Israeli offensive despite a setback when a draft Security Council resolution prepared by the League that condemns “Israeli aggression” and calls for a halt in Israeli attacks was rejected by the US. The United States said the resolution was one-sided since it made no mention of Hamas halting its rocket fire on southern Israel.
The resolution strongly condemned Israel and called for an immediate end to attacks on civilians in Gaza, while stressing the need for restoration of calm and the opening of border crossings for humanitarian aid.
“We will see what we will do,” Erekat said after his meeting with US Consul General in East Jerusalem Jack Wallas, British Consul General Richard Makepeace.
Egypt has blamed Palestinian divisions and, more specifically, Hamas, for opening the door to Israel’s aerial assault. Other more radical states, such as Syria, have steered clear of any criticism of Hamas and have pointed fingers at Egypt for allegedly siding with Israel and for not doing more to help Gazans.
In fact, it was reported that Syria wanted to see a resolution that required Cairo to fully open the Rafah crossing between Sinai and Gaza, which Egypt has largely kept closed since Hamas came to power in 2007.
But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who does not want to legitimize Hamas, has made it clear that he would only open the crossing when the Palestinian Authority controlled the Rafah terminal., as required by a 2005 international crossing agreement his country has signed.
