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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARTO 010901 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP RICE CONDOLEEZZA PREL UNSC IS
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Rice's Participation in the January 6, 
2009 Security Council Meeting on Gaza 
 
¶1. SUMMARY. The Security Council, with participation from 
the President of the Palestinian Authority, the Israel 
Permanent Representative, the Secretary-General of the Arab 
League, Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Norway, Egypt, 
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Qatar, met in an open session on 
January 6 to consider the crisis in Gaza. Participants 
roundly called for an immediate end to the violence, and 
several participants criticized the Council for taking no 
action. Secretary Rice emphasized the need for a durable 
solution. A verbatim record and a summary of each speaker's 
remarks can be found at www.un.org. END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
KOUCHNER CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. French Foreign Minister Kouchner chaired the meeting, 
since France holds the rotating Security Council presidency. 
Speaking in his national capacity, Kouchner opened the debate, 
vowing "to do the utmost so that the violence will cease." 
Kouchner recalled the Security Council's "essential role to 
play" in creating the conditions for a lasting cease-fire. He 
called for an immediate cessation of the rocket attacks into 
Israel from Gaza, and condemned the Israeli ground offensive 
into Gaza. He also endorsed the cease-fire plan that had been 
announced earlier in the day by Egyptian President Hosni 
Mubarak in a joint press conference with French President 
Nicolas Sarkozy, and said he awaited the Israeli response. 
Kouchner said necessary conditions for a durable cease-fire 
included the permanent opening of crossings between Gaza and 
Israel and a halt to arms smuggling into Gaza. Kouchner also 
thought an international monitoring mechanism might be 
necessary, and said France would be willing to contribute to 
such an effort. 
 
------------------------------- 
BAN KI-MOON CALLS FOR UN ACTION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3. Secretary-General (SYG) Ban Ki-moon urged the Council to 
immediately "move from debate into action." Ban reported UN 
estimates of dead or wounded in the preceding 11 days due to 
the Israeli bombing of Gaza to be 570 Palestinians killed and 
over 2700 injured. In addition, he said four Israeli 
civilians had been killed and dozens more injured from more 
than 500 rocket attacks from Gaza during the same period. 
Five Israeli soldiers had also been killed, with about 50 more 
injured. The SYG called an Israeli attack on three schools 
being used as a place of refuge by the UN Relief and Works 
Agency (UNRWA), "totally unacceptable," and said the rocket 
attacks into Israel were also "unacceptable." He said Gaza 
was in the midst of a humanitarian crisis that could only be 
resolved with an end to the violence. He had engaged world 
leaders, including President Bush in Washington, and Arab 
leaders in New York earlier in the day, stressing that the 
violence must end. He said he planned to travel to Israel, 
the Palestinian territories, and regional capitals during the 
week of January 12, but urged the Council not to wait until 
then to act. He said a viable international mechanism would 
be necessary to ensure the borders were properly functioning, 
and he called on member states to respond generously to an 
appeal for humanitarian assistance. 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
ABBAS TO COUNCIL: SAVE MY PEOPLE 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, 
said he had come to the Council to seek help for a "wounded 
people" who were under siege. He called on the Council to 
adopt a resolution calling for a "full and immediate cessation 
of Israeli aggression." He argued that delay on the part of 
the Council would make young people lose faith in the 
legitimacy of international law. Abbas offered his support 
for the Mubarak/Sarkozy cease-fire plan. He called for an 
opening to all border crossings between Gaza and Israel, an 
end to Israeli checkpoints and detentions of Palestinians, and 
an international force to ensure peace. Abbas acknowledged 
efforts of the Arab League, led by Egypt, to help achieve 
reconciliation among Palestinian factions. He pledged that 
the Palestinians did not want to threaten anyone's security, 
but also did not want their security threatened by others. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
ISRAEL PERMREP TO COUNCIL: MAKE GOOD ON YOUR PROMISES 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5. Israeli PermRep Gabriela Shalev urged the Council to place 
the responsibility for the humanitarian situation in Gaza on 
the shoulders of the Hamas "terrorists who have chosen 
violence over peace." She said that in the past eight years 
(referring to the September 2000 beginning of the second 
Palestinian uprising), more than 8,000 rockets had targeted 
Israeli towns. No state would allow such attacks on its 
citizens, but Israel had sought every way to avoid the current 
conflict. Shalev noted that Israel had withdrawn its military 
and its soldiers from Gaza in 2005 in an effort to create an 
opening for peace. She also recalled the six month Egyptian- 
brokered "period of calm" that had been repeatedly violated by 
Hamas, until finally Hamas had unilaterally withdrawn from it. 
Shalev welcomed the condemnation by many Council members of 
Hamas' attacks, but said Israel citizens would not be 
protected by condemnations alone. Israel had no choice but to 
defend itself, she said, adding that Israel had taken every 
possible measure to protect civilians, including by dropping 
leaflets urging civilians to leave the areas of terrorist 
operation to avoid harm. She made clear that Israel would not 
stop attacking Hamas terrorists just because they were using 
civilians for cover, as that would be "an invitation to every 
terrorist group in the world to set up shop inside a hospital 
or kindergarten." She called on the international community to 
make good on a promise that Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza 
and its restraint during violations of the "period of calm" 
would give Israel credibility to fight back should the rocket 
attacks resume. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
SECRETARY RICE CALLS FOR DURABLE CEASE-FIRE 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. The Secretary reinforced the United States' deep concern 
with the situation in Gaza. She said she and President Bush 
are personally committed to finding a solution that does not 
allow Hamas to use Gaza as a launching pad against Israeli 
cities. She pointed out that the Hamas decision not to 
respect the previous "period of calm" shows that a return to 
the status quo ante would not work. Instead a durable and 
sustainable cease-fire would be necessary to create the 
conditions for real security. This would include an end to 
rocket attacks on Israeli towns, cessation of arms smuggling 
into Gaza, and reopening of crossings. The Secretary said she 
had been engaged on seeking a solution "day and night", and 
she expressed deep concern with the current humanitarian 
situation. She told the Council that Israeli Prime Minister 
Olmert had informed her that Israel would open a humanitarian 
corridor on January 7. She pledged U.S. assistance in 
distributing humanitarian goods and offered additional U.S. 
contributions to emergency relief if needed. 
 
------------------------------ 
LIBYA SUBMITS DRAFT RESOLUTION 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. Libyan Foreign Secretary Abdurrahman Mohamad Shalgam 
placed blame for the crisis on Israel, and chided the Council 
for its "astonishing silence" in the face of Israeli attacks 
on Gaza and Israeli rejection of appeals for a humanitarian 
passageway. Shalgam urged the Council to adopt a Libyan 
drafted resolution that would "ensure an immediate end to 
Israel's aggression." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
WIDE CONDEMNATION OF BOTH HAMAS AND ISRAEL, SUPPORT FOR 
MUBARAK/SARKOZY PLAN 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶8. Most speakers in the meeting called for both Hamas to 
cease firing rockets into Israel and for Israel to cease its 
assault on Gaza. All speakers urged an immediate cease-fire, 
and deplored the unfolding humanitarian tragedy. Most members of 
the Council underscored the need for opening crossings from 
Gaza into Israel, preventing the smuggling of munitions into 
Gaza, and a process to achieve reconciliation among the 
Palestinians as part of a durable cease-fire. Some speakers 
from Arab nations, as well as Council members Turkey, Austria, 
and Mexico cited a disproportionate Israeli response to Hamas 
rockets or an excessive use of force on the part of Israel. 
British Foreign Secretary Miliband, Russian Deputy Foreign 
Minister Yakovenko, Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit, and 
Arab League SYG Moussa supported the Mubarak/Sarkozy cease- 
fire plan, but Moussa emphasized that the French-Egypt effort 
had only become necessary due to the Council's 
procrastination. Foreign Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, 
Lebanon and Qatar pleaded for the Council to take action 
against the growing humanitarian crisis. 
 
 
RICE