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UN / GAZA
STORY: UN / GAZA
TRT: 3:33
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 MARCH 2019, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
26 MARCH 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“A new conflict will be devastating for the Palestinian people, it will have consequences for Israelis, who live in the vicinity of the Gaza perimeter, and it is likely to have regional repercussions. This is why I ask you all today to join the United Nations in condemning the continued indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas towards Israel. Such acts of provocation only dramatically increase the risk of escalation and ultimately damage our collective efforts to support the people of Gaza and intra-Palestinian reconciliation. We must also call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint as the situation remains extremely tense.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“Once again Israeli occupying forces have taken to the skies dropping bombs and missiles on our defenseless civilian population, terrorizing and traumatizing them in a blatant act of aggression and collective punishment in grave breach of international law.”
6. Med shot, Israeli ambassador
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“What we are witnessing at this moment did not begin yesterday; it is part of the long-running campaign of violence and terror being waged against our people by Israel, the occupying Power, by its military forces and extremist settlers. What we are witnessing is pretext after pretext being exploited by warmongering Israeli officials and again in the context of an election campaign.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“The Security Council must make its voice heard and act to deter further violence and escalation of this dangerous situation. The Council is duty-bound to maintain international peace and security and must not turn a blind eye to Israel's violations and aggressions.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“Hamas claimed yesterday’s attack was an accident, another accident. Let me be very clear about that. This was no accident. This was a deliberate and direct attack on Israel, just like every one of the 12,000 attacks before it.”
12. Wide shot, Israeli ambassador at stakeout
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“Today is the day for the Security Council finally to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. Make no mistake. We will not accept a reality in which our children become targets of Hamas. We are determined to protect our people. If these terror attacks continue, the leaders of Hamas will feel the might of the IDF and will be buried in the tunnels of Gaza.”
14. Wide shot, Secretary-General at stakeout
15. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We were clear in the condemnation of the rocket attack, but now we believe it’s absolutely necessary to avoid any scaling up and to have restraint. And our appeal is for restraint in the present moment for the people not to suffer even more, both in Israel and in Gaza and in Palestine in general.”
16. Zoom out, Guterres leaving stakeout
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov warned that a new conflict in Gaza would be “devastating for the Palestinian people, it will have consequences for Israelis who live in the vicinity of the Gaza perimeter, and it is likely to have regional repercussions.”
A rocket launched from Gaza yesterday directly hit a house in central Israel near Tel Aviv injuring seven members of a family, including three children.
Addressing the Security Council today (26 Mar), Mladenov said this was the second attack in ten days targeting the Tel Aviv area adding that this represented a very serious escalation. He called on the international community to join the United Nations in “condemning the continued indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas towards Israel.” He added, “Such acts of provocation only dramatically increase the risk of escalation and ultimately damage our collective efforts to support the people of Gaza and intra-Palestinian reconciliation.”
Mladenov also called on all sides to “exercise maximum restraint as the situation remains extremely tense.”
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said history did not start with the launch of a rocket yesterday or any wrong act, rather it was the tragedy of the Palestinian people living under occupation. He said, “Once again Israeli occupying forces have taken to the skies dropping bombs and missiles on our defenseless civilian population, terrorizing and traumatizing them in a blatant act of aggression and collective punishment in grave breach of international law.”
Mansour said, “What we are witnessing at this moment did not begin yesterday; it is part of the long-running campaign of violence and terror being waged against our people by Israel, the occupying Power, by its military forces and extremist settlers. What we are witnessing is pretext after pretext being exploited by warmongering Israeli officials and again in the context of an election campaign.”
Mansour stressed that Palestinian families under siege were bracing themselves for the prospects of yet another war on Gaza, where the population has yet to recover from the impact of past Israeli wars. He said, “The Security Council must make its voice heard and act to deter further violence and escalation of this dangerous situation. The Council is duty-bound to maintain international peace and security and must not turn a blind eye to Israel's violations and aggressions.”
Israeli ambassador Danny Danon told the Council that Hamas manufactured the rocket and fired it from a civilian populated area in Gaza into a civilian populated area in Israel, constituting a double war crime. He said Israel has entered into a new reality as Hamas had gained the ability to launch rockets deep into Israel.
Earlier today, the Israeli ambassador told journalists that Hamas claimed the attack was an accident. He said, “Let me be very clear about that. This was no accident. This was a deliberate and direct attack on Israel, just like every one of the 12,000 attacks before it.”
Danon called on the Security Council “finally to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization.” He stressed that Israel would “not accept a reality in which [its] children become targets of Hamas” and was determined to protect its people. He added, “If these terror attacks continue, the leaders of Hamas will feel the might of the IDF and will be buried in the tunnels of Gaza.”
In response to a question on Gaza today, UN chief António Guterres said the UN was “clear in the condemnation of the rocket attack, but now we believe it’s absolutely necessary to avoid any scaling up and to have restraint.” He appealed for restraint to avoid more suffering both in Israel and in Palestine.
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