UN chief wants monitors to enforce Gaza cease-fire
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged key world leaders to intensify efforts to achieve an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and a senior UN official said he wants it to include international monitors to enforce a truce and possibly to protect Palestinian civilians.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and several Arab foreign ministers are set to fly to New York over the weekend to urge the UN Security Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and demand an immediate halt to its military attacks in Gaza.
The United States has said the draft is "unacceptable" as it makes no mention of halting the Hamas rocketing of southern Israel, which led to the Israeli offensive.
Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told reporters Friday via video link from Jerusalem that a comprehensive approach is essential to end the crisis and prevent a return to the "inherently unstable and unsustainable" situation in Gaza and southern Israel.