UN Security Council to debate Middle East peace process

Date: 11 / 05 / 2009 Time: 17:16
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

The United Nations Security Council will debate on Monday how to revive moribund Middle East peace negotiations.

Russia called for the meeting in order to give “new impetus" to a peace process that Israel shattered with its attack on the Gaza Strip in December that left nearly 1,500 Palestinians dead before its conclusion in January.

Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, who chairs the 15-member Security Council this month, called the Council meeting to stress the "urgency of reaching comprehensive peace in the Middle East," according to AFP.

The meeting will include foreign ministers of Russia, Britain, France, Turkey and Austria as well as US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

Israeli and Palestinian representatives will not take part in the talks, which will focus on the two-state solution to Middle East impasse. Israel’s new government, lead by Benjamin Netanyahu, has so far refused to accept the creation a Palestinian state, which the international community considers a pillar of peace process.

The Security Council’s last action on the Middle East, resolution 1860, called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza during the war in January. The call was ignored by both Israel and Hamas-led fighters.

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