MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti) - After an open-ended ceasefire for Gaza was announced in Cairo, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the root causes of the conflict needed to be addressed in order to prevent future conflict.
"Any peace effort that does not tackle the root causes of the crisis will do little more than set the stage for the next cycle of violence,” Ban Ki-moon said.
Listing three elements, he urged that “Gaza must be brought back under one legitimate Palestinian Government adhering to the PLO commitments; the blockade of Gaza must end; Israel's legitimate security concerns must be addressed.”
Returning to the humanitarian cost of the war, Ban Ki-moon said that “after this latest round of killing and the further widespread destruction of Palestinian homes, civilians on both sides need a reprieve in order to resume their daily lives, and to allow for humanitarian and early recovery efforts to address the desperate needs of the people in Gaza."
During this stage of the conflict, UN Relief and Works Agency schools in Gaza were used as shelters and several of them were shelled. The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday said that "the children of Gaza and Israel must be able to start the school year without the sound of rocket alarms and airstrikes. After 50 days of profound human suffering and devastating physical destruction, any violations of the ceasefire would be utterly irresponsible.”
After the UN played a role in temporary humanitarian ceasefires, it was said that the organization was ready to support efforts to address the reasons for the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
On July 8, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas movement in response to the military group’s rocket attacks. On July 17, the Israelis launched a ground offensive, aiming to destroy Hamas rocket launchers and the network of tunnels along the Gaza border with western Israel. The conflict has claimed thousands of lives.
