The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said Wednesday that a united bloc comprised of the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) backed the Palestinian request to hold an immediate Security Council meeting Wednesday on the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip The Security Council has to act, and act immediately to stop this aggression, said Palestinian observer Riyadh Mansour. Qatar s U.N. ambassador had presented the meeting request Monday, and the Security Council went into previously unscheduled consultations on Wednesday. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters earlier in the day that there was no support for a meeting on Gaza. An Israeli tank attack on the town of Beit Hanoun killed at least 18 people overnight, mostly women and children. The Israeli government apologized for the civilian deaths and said they had launched an investigation into the incident. We do not accept any more sorry and mistakes from the Israeli government where they continue repeating these massacres in Gaza. Those who are responsible should be brought to justice, said Mansour. The OIC announced a proposal Tuesday calling for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the deployment of a U.N. observer force. Asked by S.P.A. whether he had spoken to U.N. member states and Security Council members to garner solid support, Mansour replied, the Arab Group, the NAM, and the OIC unanimously supported this idea. Alvaro de Soto, the U.N. coordinator for the Middle East peace process, issued a statement from the region saying he was deeply shocked and appalled by the deaths in Beit Hanoun. In a weekend telephone call to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan received assurances that no operation would be launched that was not essential to stop the firing of rockets into Israel, de Soto said.
