MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - The UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire, as the Palestinian death toll exceeded 500, according to Health Ministry.
“The members of the Security Council call for an immediate cessation of hostilities,” said Rwandan Ambassador Eugene Richard Gasana, who chaired the council.
The death toll, since the beginning of the Israeli offensive, was reported by medics at 501.
“The amount of people killed in the Gaza Strip in the course of the attacks reached 501; 3,135 are injured,” said Ashraf Qudra, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Palestinian Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour called for steps to end the violence in the region and expressed his frustration with the Security Council’s inability to handle the situation.
“The Council failed again and again to shoulder its responsibility,” he said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in Doha, Qatar, in the begenning of his trip to the region seeking a ceasefire.
So far, ceasefire proposals have been rejected by Hamas, as they continued with the attacks.
Israel started its Protective Edge operation on July 8 in response to Palestinian aggression. Ten days later, the Israeli Army launched a ground offensive aiming to destroy underground tunnels dug and used by rebels to secretly enter Israeli territory.
