Do more to stop Mideast violence, says UN to world

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 30 (Agencies): Flaying the international community for not doing enough to bring the violence in Middle East to an end, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday appealed to world and regional leaders to take more steps to bring about an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas.

He called on both Hamas and Israel to stop their acts of violence, declare an immediate ceasefire and curb inflammatory rhetoric.

"Only then the dialogue could begin," he said.

Ban's call came as top UN officials reported that at least 320 people were killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza and another 1400 injured.

Among the killed were 62 women and children, they said but could not give the number of civilian men who died in the Israeli action.

The UN compound in Gaza was also hit but the extent of damage was not known.

Two Israelis are known to have died in Hamas rocket attacks but the number of injured was not known.

Doing some tight-rope walking, Ban criticised both Hamas firing rockets into Israel and Tel Aviv's "excessive use of force" on Gaza half of whose population comprises children.

The officials said that United Nations does not have political dialogue with Hamas but only technical discussions.

Ban also called for strict observance of international humanitarian law.

Pointing out that international and regional partners have not done enough, he said they should use "all possible means" to end the violence, encourage a political dialogue and stress the need for resolving the issues peacefully.

Referring to the coming meeting of the Arab foreign ministers, Ban urged them to act "swiftly and decisively" to bring an early end to this impasse.

At the same time, he said, the world leaders should step up their efforts for a long term solution.

"First of all, I'm deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence in and around Gaza.

This is unacceptable," Ban said.

"I have been repeatedly condemning the rocket attacks against Israel while recognising Israel's right to defend itself.

I have also condemned the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza," he said.

"Both Israel and Hamas must stop their acts of violence and a ceasefire must be declared immediately," he said.

Meanwhile, amid worldwide protests against Israel's attacks, Arab states have asked the UN to bring the Jewish state into compliance and cease military activities in the region.

Ambassadors from Egypt and Palestinian Authority met the UN chief Ban Ki-moon shortly after he had addressed a press conference asking both Hamas and Israel to declare immediate ceasefire and criticised Tel Aviv for using "excessive force." The two met Ban, as Arabs increased pressure on the Security Council to ensure that its call for ceasefire is heeded by Israel even as Tel Aviv said it planned to destroy the ability of Hamas to fire rockets into its territory and threat of a ground attack loomed.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian permanent observer to the United Nations, told reporters that Israel must be made to comply with the unanimous call of the 15-member council for an immediate end to the violence and bloodshed in Gaza.

"It's the responsibility of the council to act in a practical way to bring the Israeli compliance" with the unanimous council call for a cease-fire, Mansour said.

"What we want is to bring Israel into compliance with the wish of the Security Council," he said, adding that it has been more than 48 hours since the council made the appeal, but Israel did not comply with it.

Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev had said in a letter to the Security Council on Saturday that the airstrikes were aimed at "the terrorists and their infrastructure" in Gaza and were not intended against the civilian population.

But reports from the Gaza said several dozens of civilians were killed.

The UN reported on Monday that at least 62 women and children have been killed.

Mansour said that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the Security Council, Croatia's UN Ambassador Neven Jurica whose country holds the rotating council presidency for December, both pledged to him that they will work hard to address the latest situation in Gaza and the humanitarian needs of the people there.

Mansour had said, last Sunday that if Israel did not comply with the council's cease-fire call, Arab nations and their supporters "will come back before the council in order to bring Israel into compliance." The Arab ministers are slated to meet on Wednesday in Egypt to hammer out a common strategy.

The Security Council had, last Saturday held an emergency meeting on the latest situation in Gaza and later unanimously called for an immediate stop to all acts of violence in Gaza and southern Israel.