UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The Kuwaiti ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday that his delegation will circulate a draft resolution among Security Council members to demand international protection for Palestinians.
"We will circulate a Security Council draft resolution on providing international protection to Palestinian people because the Israelis -- the occupying power -- failed to carry on their international responsibility in accordance with the Geneva Conventions," Kuwaiti ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi told reporters.
Al-Otaibi, whose delegation called an emergency meeting of the Security Council following Monday's Israeli-Palestinian clashes in Gaza, was one of the Arab ambassadors at a collective press presence outside the Security Council chamber to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
At least 60 Palestinians, including six children, were reportedly killed and more than 1,300 were reportedly injured as weeks of demonstrations culminated on Monday, the 70th anniversary of Israel's founding and the day of relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, said at the press presence that in the draft resolution there will be a request for the UN secretary-general to examine the rules of engagement of Israeli security forces and submit recommendations on the issue.
Provisions of the Geneva Conventions give the occupying power the responsibility to provide protection for civilians, said Mansour. "But if the occupying power is the source of lack of protection, and it is the source of attacking civilians, then the occupying power forfeits or abdicates its responsibility to provide protection, then it is the responsibility of the international community (to protect)," said the Palestinian ambassador.
He said the draft resolution might be circulated on Wednesday, followed by negotiations among Security Council members. If adopted, the resolution would help tremendously in providing protection for Palestinians, he said.
The fate of the draft resolution hangs in the balance as the United States remains adamant in its support for Israel.
At Tuesday's Security Council meeting, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blamed Hamas, which controls Gaza, for the latest violence.
"Make no mistake: Hamas is pleased with the results from yesterday," she told the Security Council.
The United States, as a permanent member of the Security Council, has veto power. The United States on Monday blocked a Kuwaiti-drafted Security Council statement that would have expressed outrage at the killing of Palestinians and called for an independent investigation, diplomats said.
At Tuesday's Security Council meeting, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov condemned the latest round of violence in Gaza and asked Israel to use force proportionally.
Briefing the Security Council, Mladenov said Israel has a responsibility to not use lethal forces, except as a last resort under imminent threat of death or serious injury. "It must protect its borders, but it must do so proportionally and investigate every incident that has led to a loss of human life."
At the same time, he asked Hamas not to use the protests as cover to attempt to place bombs at the border fence and create provocations. Hamas operatives must not hide among the demonstrators and risk the lives of civilians, he said.
