Kuwait pushes Security Council resolution to send int’l force to protect Gazans

UNITED NATIONS, New York — Kuwait is urging the Security Council to condemn Israel’s use of force against Palestinian civilians “in the strongest terms,” especially in the Gaza Strip, and to deploy an international force to protect civilians.

A draft resolution circulated Friday by Kuwait, which is the Arab representative on the council, also demands that Israel “immediately cease its military reprisals, collective punishment and unlawful use of force against civilians, including in the Gaza Strip.”

No date was set for the draft to be put to a vote.

Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon responded to the draft resolution, saying, “The cynicism and attempts to distort reality have reached a new low. Israel will continue to defend its sovereignty and the security of its citizens against the terror and murderous violence of Hamas.”

“This shameful draft resolution is a proposal to support Hamas’s war crimes against Israel and the residents of Gaza who are being sent to die for the sake of preserving Hamas’ rule,” he said in a statement.

The United States has defended Israel’s actions in Gaza and will very likely veto the resolution if it is put to a vote.

Kuwait’s effort came after the Security Council couldn’t agree on a statement about a confrontation in Gaza Monday that left some 60 Palestinians dead. Palestinian officials said it was a massacre of protesters demonstrating against a decade-long blockade; Israel said it was defending its border against a terrorism-fueled mob.

The Hamas terror group that rules Gaza admitted on Wednesday that 50 of the dead were its members. Israel said that some of those killed were involved in planting explosives or firing on soldiers and that Hamas was using the border protests as cover to stage attacks.

“I am giving you an official figure. 50 of the martyrs in the recent battle were from Hamas,” said Hamas’s Salah Bardawil.

Kuwait tried Monday to get the council to issue a statement expressing outrage at the killings and seeking an independent investigation, among other things. The US blocked the statement, saying it was one-sided and faulting it for not mentioning incitement of violence by Hamas.

The Kuwaiti draft resolution calls for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population, including through the deployment of “an international protection mission.”

It would reaffirm the council’s willingness to respond to armed conflict where civilians are being targeted or aid to civilians is being deliberately obstructed and says this could include considering “appropriate measures” — UN language for sanctions.

The draft calls for “the full lifting of the blockade and the restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.” This includes “the immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing points” to allow humanitarian aid, commercial goods and people to enter and leave in accordance with international law, it says.

Israel maintains a security blockade of Gaza to prevent Hamas, which seized control there in 2007 from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, from importing weaponry. Hamas seeks to destroy Israel.

The draft expresses “grave concern at the escalation of violence and tensions and the deterioration of the situation” in Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since March 30 — and at the loss of civilian lives and high casualties.

It urges immediate and unimpeded aid to civilians in Gaza, “immediate and significant steps” to stabilize the situation on the ground.

The draft calls for intensified efforts by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Mideast envoy Nikolay Mladenov to help deter violence, protect civilians and create “an environment conducive to dialogue.”

Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said Palestinians were looking at past UN operations in various countries to see what form a protection effort might take.

The key is “the ability to affect behavior on the ground and to provide genuine protection,” she said at a news conference Wednesday at UN headquarters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday defended Israel’s handling of deadly clashes on the Gaza border, highlighting statements by Hamas leaders espousing violence.

In the Facebook video, the prime minister pointed to militant rhetoric employed by the group’s leaders to drum up support for the protests, including an interview Sunday with senior member and Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar, who said the terror group was “deceiving the public” by calling the riots peaceful.

He also cites an earlier statement by Hamas in Gaza head Yahya Sinwar who said in April that the point of the protests is to “tear down their border and tear out their hearts.”

“Ready for a real shocker? I completely agree with the leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization who’ve said this over the past few days,” Netanyahu said. “I agree. Shooting guns and lobbing explosives at Israelis isn’t peaceful at all.”

Netanyahu also cited senior official Bardawil, who on Wednesday said 50 of those killed belonged to Hamas.

“The same Hamas that has called for genocide of every single Jew,” Netanyahu said. “I agree that Israel targets terrorists.”

Israel has been engaged over the past several days in trying to defend itself after coming under harsh criticism from around the world over the death toll on the Gaza border, pointing to violence directed against its troops during the protests, which were officially advertised as “peaceful.”

Israel has blamed Hamas for the deadly violence, saying the terror group encouraged and led the protests, which included attacks on Israeli troops and attempts to breach the border fence. The IDF said Sunday that Hamas planned to send armed terrorists through any breach in the fence to “massacre” Israelis.

After the first “March of Return” protests in March, Hamas acknowledged that five of its terrorists were among the fatalities, but it subsequently refrained from acknowledging whether its men were among the dead.

Bardawil’s claim that 50 of those killed were in Hamas was shared Wednesday by Israel Defense’s Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus, who also pointed to it as proof Israel had been targeting terrorists.

“This proves what so many have tried to ignore: Hamas is behind these riots, and the branding of the riots as ‘peaceful protests’ could not be further from the truth,” Conricus wrote on Twitter.