The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) early Saturday held an emergency meeting to discuss escalation in Gaza, where 15 civilian Palestinians were killed and hundreds more wounded after Israeli soldiers opened their intensive fire against a peaceful march in the besieged enclave. The closed-door session, which was held at the request of Kuwait, was attended by the UN-15 members states, where the Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour started by reading the names of civilians killed by the Israeli troops and a name of a Gaza farmer who had also been killed by Israeli artillery fire on his land near Khan Younis, just hours ahead of the peaceful demonstrations. Addressing the meeting Mansour said that there is nothing more repulsive than a massacre of unarmed defenseless people, including women and children. "Israel's vicious attacks against disarmed and unprotected Palestinian civilians were premeditated and deliberate," he added. The Arab League envoy said he was disappointed that the Security Council failed to take serious stance to stop what he called a "heinous massacre" against peaceful demonstrators, Jordan News Agency (Petra) reported.
