MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - The United Nations Security Council draft resolution on the situation in the Gaza Strip remains in the works, but the US position on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis resolution complicates the Council's discussion of the issue, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told RIA Novosti in an interview.
"Some time ago, the Jordanians prepared a draft Security Council resolution on the Gaza situation. But so far, it also has not had any practical development, as everyone knows that the situation with decision making on the Israeli-Palestinian issue at the Security Council is complicated, including because of the US position," Gatilov said.
"The issue, however, remains on the table, with consultations held on it, and attempts undertaken to make its wording generally acceptable," the diplomat added.
The project had nothing "sensational" about it, Gatilov said.
"Those are calls for the de-escalation of the conflict, and a stop to military action. Naturally, it is mostly criticism of the Israeli actions. But such one-sided orientation is unacceptable for Americans, they try to balance it with the criticism of the Hamas action. The discussions circle around that now," he said.
Such actions as the recent seizure of 400 hectares of new land in the Bethlehem region by Israel "push toward more radical actions on the part of the Palestinians, who said once again that they would go to the UN, raise the issue of a harsh Security Council resolution, and bring in the International Criminal Court."
More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have lost their lives to the conflict in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas movement on July 8. Israeli death toll stands at 72 people – 65 soldiers and 7 civilians.
At the end of last month, Israel and the Palestinians agreed on an open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. All previous ceasefire agreements were unconditional and limited in time. With the new truce, Israel promised to open border checkpoints for Palestinians and expand the coast line fishing area.
