UN Council to meet as world condemns house demolitions
By Haaretz Staff and Agencies
The United Nations Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting early this morning, at the request of the Arab nations, to discuss recent developments in the Gaza Strip, including the Israel Defense Forces operation in Rafah and the demolition of dozens of houses there over the weekend.
The Palestinian Authority is appealing to the international community to put pressure on Israel to end the IDF raid, PA Minister for Negotiations Saeb Erekat said yesterday.
The Arab League, responding to Palestinian appeals, also convened yesterday in Cairo and said that the Israeli operation was aimed at "ethnic cleansing." The league also said that it would take legal action to bring Israelis to trial for war crimes.
Erekat told Voice of Palestine Radio from Spain that the PA was holding "extensive contacts" with countries to persuade them to act immediately to stop the Rafah operation, which has seen at least 20 Palestinians killed and hundreds of Rafah residents flee their homes fearing further house demolitions.
"We call upon the whole world to immediately intervene to block Israel's military escalation," he said.
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's top aide, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, called the offensive a "war of annihilation" and a "humanitarian disaster." He also called for outside intervention to stop "these massacres."
The Arab League issued a statement after its urgent meeting in which it accused the IDF of committing "war crimes" in Rafah.
The league "holds the government of Israel wholly responsible for the consequences of the crimes it is committing against the unarmed Palestinian people, and condemns them as war crimes aimed at ethnic cleansing and collective punishment," said the statement, issued by the member nations' permanent representatives to the Arab League.
Jordan called on Israel to stop its assault and return to negotiations with the Palestinians.
Meretz MK Yossi Sarid said yesterday that Israel's demolition of houses in Rafah constitutes a war crime. On leaving a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Sarid said that "when children flee for their lives, dragging a suitcase bigger than them behind them, it is certainly seen as a war crime in the international community."
The raid also drew UN and European Union criticism, due to fears that it could make thousands more Palestinians homeless. Israel's main ally, the United States, also said that it was concerned.
Paul Patin, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said that the United States has asked Israel for clarifications regarding the Rafah operations.
The EU reiterated its condemnation of the military action yesterday, warning that the demolitions of Palestinian homes broke the "spirit and the letter" of the internationally-sponsored road map peace plan.
"What is taking place now in Gaza is something that we have to condemn and condemn very strongly," said Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy representative.
