India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations on Sunday urged restraint between Israel and Palestine at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Israel-Palestine situation.
Permanent Representative of India to UN, T.S. Tirumurti, condemned the rocket firings from Gaza that were “targeting [the] civilian population in Israel”. India noted that the rocket attacks as well as Israel’s retaliatory strikes into Gaza have caused “immense suffering and resulted indeaths including of women and children”.
Tirumurti noted the death of an Indian national who was living in Israel, Soumya Santhosh, who had been working as a caregiver in Ashkelon and who was killed after a rocket fired by Hamas fell on her home.
“India has also lost one of her nationals living in Israel in this rocket fire - a caregiver in Ashkelon. We deeply mourn her demise along with all other civilians who have lost their lives in current cycle of violence, provocation, incitement, and destruction,” Tirumurti said.
“We urge both sides to show extreme restraint, desist from actions that exacerbate tensions, & refrain from attempts to unilaterally change the existing status quo, including in East Jerusalem and its neighbourhood: Permanent Representative of India to UN,” he said.
At the meeting, which was the UNSC’s first public meeting on the issue following two private briefings, the United States said it had made clear to both Israel and Palestine that it was ready to offer support “should the parties seek a ceasefire”. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza would continue at “full force”.
“We believe that every effort should be made to create conducive conditions for resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine,” Tirumurti said.
At least 43 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. Since the fighting began, ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military said armed factions had fired more than 2,800 rockets from Gaza over the past week.
