community to face the consequences of its in action. hamas used its foothold in gaza to trample on the palestinian hamas is using its abilities to export to gras. if hamas is not stopped it will mean more terror for israel and more tragedy for the palestinians. the unity agreement between fatah and the terror organization believed it would bring them closer to peafments does that sound logical? how could embrace ago terror group with the eradication of israel bring about peace? but now it should be clear that hamas is using the cover of the political agreement to gain legitimacy for its extremist objectives. following the establishment of

hamas ty government, minister declared, and i quote, "that the whistling bullets, the sound of bombs and missiles exploding and the capture of israeli soldiers was music to our ears." by supporting the agreement you're giving hamas the opportunity to weave incitement, violence and terror into the basic fabric, just as it did in gaza. mr. president, the citizens of israel want to live in peace. we want to see our children without d grow old running for a bomb shelter or utting on an army uniform. i hope someday we will read about attacks on jewish people

in history books rather than newspapers. but that day has not yet come. for now we are forced to wage war against a terrorist group ommitted to our destruction. as we speak, night has fallen on israel. rather than sleeping soundly in their beds, our sons and daughters are out there in the darkness standing guard over rael and the people of scrawl. in the book of psalms king david says -- [speaking foreign language] too long have i lived among those who hate peace. i am for peace, but when i speak, they are for. mr. president, israel was left with no choice, but each and every one of you around this , you have a choice.

stand against terrorism and for the right of people to live in peace. stand against the use of human shields and for human rights. stand against suppression and for the freedoms that we hold dear. the leaders of many governments who are represented in this room have expressed support for israel's right to defend itself. we thank them for standing at our side at this important hour. i ask the rest of you to join them. d i have with me a compass here. i offer it to the international community in the hopes that it will guide you towards making the right decision, stand for more clarity, stand for good against evil and stand for right against wrong. hank you, mr. president.

>> i thank the representative of israel. i now give the floor to the members of the security council. i give the floor to the epresentative of jordan. >> jordan, on behalf of the arab group, called for the convening of this urgent meeting to discuss the latest grave developments in the gaza strip. we thank the members of the council for quickly responding to our call. jordan rejects and condemns in the strongest terms the repeated aggression waged by srael on the gaza strip. we denounce its war on the

palestinian people. the latest development following the beginning of the land incursion against the strip last night. jordan denounces this disproportionate, unjustified use of excessive force. jordan denounces the ndiscriminate targeting of , the sons ilians and daughters of the palestinian people. mr. president, has humanity where the world has become so accustomed to

seeing dead children in gaza, dead children on the beaches of za, and dead children in the remains of their destroyed homes? the israeli aggression has 270 martyrs up until now as well as more than 1,500 injured. the numbers continue to scalate. the united nations report that re than 80% of the palestinian casualties are civilians. 20% are e than

children. 1,600 palestinian homes have been obliterated. tens of thousands of palestinians have left their homes in the north and center of gaza. more than 18,000 have sought refuge in our schools. more than half of the people of .aza are living without water many schools and health facilities have been destroyed, thus escalating the suffocating human suffering in the strip. rdan called on israel to immediately put an end to

military operations. we call on israel to withdraw its forces from the gaza strip. jordan calls for complete eescalation, cease-fire, and an end to the targeting of innocent civilians anywhere and for their protection, we call for the respect of the rules of international humanitarian law. in this regard, jordan supports the egyptian initiative that has been tabled towards cease-fire and deescalation. jordan has strengthened the capacities of the military field hospital that has been

working in gaza for years. we have accelerated urgent medical assistance to the strip. opened its so doors to waves of palestinian wounded. we call on the international community to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to alestinians in the gaza strip. jordan, under the leadership of his majesty abdullah ii stantively orking through extensive contacts with the leaders of the region and the world to reach a

cease-fire. we stress that the only solution that would guarantee a non-recurrence of such israeli aggression is a political solution through the resumption of comprehensive serious negotiations based on the two states solution, including the stablishment of an independent palestinian state on arab-palestinian national soil with east jerusalem as its capital. proceeding from relevant national resolutions and the arab peace plan so as to achieve security and stability to all the states and peoples of the region. thank you, mr. president.

>> i thank the representative of jordan and i give now the floor to the representative of the united states. have the floor. >> thank you, mr. president, and thank you undersecretary general feldman for your briefing. the united states is deeply concerned about the rocket attacks by hamas and the dangerous escalation of hostilities in the region. in particular, we are concerned about the devastating impact of this crisis on both israeli and palestinian civilians. president obama spoke with prime minister netanyahu this morning to reaffirm the united states' strong support for israel's right to defend itself. as president obama said today, no nation should accept rockets being fired into its borders or terrorists tunneling into its territory. in just the last two weeks hamas and other armed groups in gaza have launched more than 1,500 rockets toward population centers in israel. hamas' attacks are unacceptable and would be unacceptable to any member state of the united

nations. israel has the right to defend its citizens and prevent these attacks. president obama also said today that we are deeply concerned about the potential loss of more innocent lives. it is important that everything possible is done to prevent civilian casualties as well as to mitigate the suffering of innocent men, women and children. the consequences of the rising violence are plain for all of us to see and they are heart-wrenching. we feel profound anguish upon seeing the images of suffering from gaza, including the deaths and injuries of innocent palestinian civilians, including young children and the displacement of thousands of people. israeli civilians, including the elderly and children alike are fleeing to shelters with little warnings to escape the barrage of rockets from gaza. this is no way for anyone to live, not palestinians, not israelis. the four palestinian boys playing on the beach in gaza city were like boys everywhere, reftless for play. their deaths are heart breaking and the loss their family

members and neighbors must feel today must be searing. the israeli officials have opened an investigation into their deaths. the devastating consequences of this conflict make it all the more disturbing that hamas has squandered the serious efforts by egypt to broker a cease-fire, a cessation of violence would have offered civilians on both sides a chance for peace, but hamas continued its rocket attacks. as we have repeatedly stated, the united states is committed to finding a domestic solution to stop the ongoing violence. as president obama made clear, we believe there should be a return to the cease-fire that was reached in november, 2012. to this end, we are committed to supporting egypt's cease-fire proposal. that is why secretary of state kerry is working with our regional partners to try to bring about a cessation of hostilities and is prepared to travel to the region following additional consultations. until that cease-fire is reached we need to do everything in our power to assist the civilians caught in

the middle of the violence. we are grateful for the fire-hour humanitarian pause negotiated by the special coordinator yesterday. it provided a critically important window for the united nations, humanitarian and medical workers and others to reach the wounded, displaced and most vulnerable. it allowed time for crucial infrastructure repairs to improve access to basic services, and it offered a brief reprieve for some of the people most affect bid this conflict. but let's be clear -- a humanitarian pause is just that, a pause. it is a brief stop in an otherwise persistent and often overwhelming stream of violence, which has inflicted suffering and terror on civilians. a pause is no substitute for a cease-fire, which is what is needed. indeed, what was already a very troubling humanitarian situation in gaza is rapidly deteriorating. there are widespread shortages of water, food, electricity and medicine. the united nations, humanitarian organizations and regular palestinian citizens are all doing tremendous work to assist those in need from

opening their homes to the displaced, to delivering emergency rations to those in the hardest to reach places. but the situation is grave and getting worse. until a cease-fire is reached, we call on all parties to ensure the protection of civilians and to respect and protect humanitarian and medical facilities, including those of the united nations. this week the u.n. and gaza discovered 20 rockets that had been put in one of its schools. the u.n. quickly removed the rockets and condemned the action. such tactics are indefensible. we condemn in the strongest terms this dangerous use of schools and hps for military purposes which endangers some of society's most vulnerable members, children and the sick. no family, palestinian or israeli, should have to live in perpetual fear of being unsafe in their own homes. no children, israeli or palestinian, should be kept awake at night by the sounds of rockets and gunfire or to be prevented from going to school because it's too dangerous to venture outside. no people want to live like

this. it is outrageous that they are being forced to. the only way to end this situation is an immediate cessation of rocket fire from gaza and a dee escalation in hostilities that. is what we are calling for today. the recent surge in violence escalated with the kidnapping and senseless murder of three israeli boys, followed by the kidnapping and senseless murder of a palestinian boy. when news of the palestinian boy's killing reached the mother of one of the israeli victims, she said, "no mother or father should go through what we are going through now." she is right. too much innocent blood has been shed. the suffering of innocent civilians must come to an end. thank you. >> i thank the representative of the united states. i give now the floor to the representative of china. >> i thank you for convening today's emergency meeting.

i thank the esteemed mr. feldman for his briefing. i listened carefully to the statements by the representatives of israel and palestine. china is closely following the recent developments in the israeli-palestinian situation. in spite of repeated calls from the international community, israel has continued with large-scale area bombardments against gaza and its launch of a ground invasion into gaza, leading to heavy civilian casualties, including those of women and children. chipe is deeply concerned and grieve at this development. china condemns any abusive force. whatever the excuse is, any action that causes heavy carments among innocent civilians is unacceptable. instead of solving problems, force will only lead to more

bloodshed and destruction and reater hatred. we are disappointed that the truce did not lead to a sustained cease-fire. we urge parties concerned to immediately sees hostilities, withdraw their ground troops from gaza, completely list a blockade against gaza, and give access to u.n. and other international humanitarian aid agencies so as to ease the misery of the local population. china supports efforts by the security council to take necessary action, take a strong stand on the gaza situation, promote alleviation of the tension, present -- prevent more civilian casualties and maintain peace and stability in the middle east. china appreciates and supports the diplomatic mediation efforts by the international community, including by the secretary general, mr. ban

ki-moon, egypt and other regional countries and the arab league to de-escalate the current situation. the intent at this stage is that the israeli and palestinian parties must respond positively to the international community cease-fire initiative and good offices, immediately achieve a cease-fire and avoid any military ground operations, rocket firings and other action that is may lead to further escalation and tension. china is in close contact with parties concerned to push for an israeli and palestinian cease-fire. the deputy foreign minister of china has just met separately in china with envoys and representatives of israel, palestine, egypt and other countries and the arab league and is deeply engaged with them. the chinese special envoy on the middle east is, as we

speak, in israel and palestine on a shuttle mission of good offices pushing for peace and dialogue. e will also send another branch of aid to ease the difficulties on gaza. chipe is ready to maintain communication with concerned parties including arab countries and make unlimited efforts to ease the israeli and palestinian situation and maintain peace and stability in the region. the question of palestine remains the core of the middle east question. the protracted stealmate is not conducive to peace and stability in the middle east region. the re-emergence of conflict in gaza highlights the importance and urgency of a solution of the palestinian question in the current situation in the region. the international community must redouble its efforts to push for meaningful initiatives

on both sides so as to re-establish mutual trust, resume dialogue as soon as possible, and achieve substantial progress. as the dominant force, israel must take proactive actions and create necessary conditions for the relaunch of peace talks. china firmly supports palestine's just cause of restoration of their national rights. we support the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent palestinian state on the 1967 border and with east jerusalem as its capital. we support the admission of palestine into the u.n. and other international organizations. thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the representative of china for his statement. i give now the floor to the representative of nigeria. have the floor. >> thank you very much, mr. president. and mr. thank you

feldman for his briefing. the ground invasion launched by israel into gaza has led to further is calation of the conflict with hamas. we regret that despite the call for well-meaning leaders around the world for de-escalation and restraint, the conflict has grown both in intensity and scope. indeed, this conflict has claimed numerous lives, including women and innocent children. while we recognize israel's inherent right to protect its citizens from attack, its response must be proportionate and in consonance with international humanitarian law. the civilian toll on the palestinian side, especially the killing of women and children, is simply unjustifiable. in the same vein we urge hamas

to bring an immediate cessation to their indiscriminate rocket attacks which has terrorized israelis and disrupted their lives. violence begets violence and renders reconciliation almost impossible. we believe that what is urgently required now is a de-escalation of the conflict. this implies that leaders on both sides must demonstrate and show max restraint. -- maximum restraint. countries with influence on the warring parties should leave no stone unturned to facilitate a return to the november, 2012, ease-fire. it has been established that there be no military solution to the question of palestine. peace y part to enable between israel and palestine is through negotiation, therefore,

the doors to a diplomatic resolution must remain open. e urge both parties to embrace reviving the peace talks. we re-state our support for a two-state solution with both israel and palestine living side by side in peace and security. i thank you. >> i thank the representative of nigeria for her statement. i give now the floor to the epresentative of france. >> i thank the undersecretary general mr. feldman for his briefing. the events which are unfortunatelyly not unprecedented. in 2012 and 2014, each and every time the inhabitants are caught between missile and rocket fire which we condemn

and the fire of the israeli army with all the victims results in, and every time the palestinian population leads to great distress. the history in the middle east keeps on repeating itself. again we are witnessing a deadly spiral with peace being further and further away. after the failure of yet another round of serious efforts a few weeks ago. we were speaking of our support for the peace initiative and the dialogue between the parties under the agency of the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry. today we are again at war. history has repeated itself. mr. president, what should our priorities be? our immediate and absolute priority should be obtaining a cease-fire. on the one hand, the rockets fired by hamas at israel must stop. they are in violation of international humanitarian law. on the other, israeli air

strikes as well as the ground offensives have claimed too many lives thus far. close to 300, 80% of them civilians, including 40 children. i'll remind you that the international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected. we feed to break the spiral of violence and the deterioration of the disastrous human toll of this crisis. a frenchman is currently in the region and he met the palestinian authorities, then he met with the egyptian authorities and we back their efforts. tomorrow he will meet the israeli authorities as well as the jordanian ones. he hopes to pay tribute to the agents present in gaza, the w.h.t., w.h.o., amongst others responding to the food insecurity and distress of the populations. the humanitarian teams are discharging what is a holy mission, and they should be able to act as required in safety and security.

however, a cease-fire alone won't suffice. the conditions for a lasting truce must be created, one which would meet the legitimate expectations of the israelis and palestinians, including in combas. on the one hand security and their rights and the other the lifting of the blockade and economic development is an absolute and vital necessity. gaza should no longer serve as the forward base of those who want to destroy israel, but neither should it be -- we should call upon hamas to rally behind the immediate cease-fire proposal and then to open the way to a final agreement by accepting their positions of the quartet, recognizing israel, renunesing violence and accessing the agreement signed by the palestinian authority. gaza should be able to return this is why ife, t is important to work to lift blockades and open the crossing

points. it is in the spirit of reactivation of the european union and the mission in rafah, which would enable us to improve the populations of gaza and to assist in an effective return by the palestinian authority to rafah. finally and most importantly, we must restore meaning to political settlement. i rarely van opportunity to say this. the major lines of the solutions are well known and yet, no one -- no one is able to implement them. relaunching and concluding these processes are the only possible solution. europeans and arabs must side by side with americans mobilize to provide to both parties necessary guarantees to transcend these fears. indeed, as long as this wall of fear, this feeling that the other seeks one's utter destruction remains, nothing will be possible. the traditional recipes haven't worked, and they haven't worked for 20 years now, since the

initial agreements and the parties are incapable of moving to peace by themselves. we need new ideas. we need the renewed efforts of each and every one to help them down this path, which they are hesitant to take. thank you. >> i now give the floor to the representative of australia. >> thank you, mr. president and thank you to under secretary general feldman for his briefing. alongside other members of the international community, australia yaes deeply concerned by the escalation in hostilities between israel and militant groups in gaza. it's a tragedy that recent events have led us to this point and it is important that steps are taken to reduce tensions and to restore peace. the decision by hamas to reject the egyptian-brokered cease-fire proposals and the continued firing of rockets indiscriminately into israel is

inexcusable. we appreciate all the efforts by a range of actors which have gone into negotiating a cease-fire during the course of the past week. we welcome the news that the secretary general will be traveling to the region tomorrow, and we strongly encourage his diplomatic efforts. we strongly urge all parties to find a peaceful resolution and to bring an end to the current violence. mr. president, australia condemns the events that led to the currents escalation in the reeg job, the murders of the three israeli teenagers in the west bank and the apparent revenge-murder of the palestinian teenager on july 2. these were tragic events that never should have taken place. we extend our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and call for the perpetrators of these terrible crimes to be held to account. australia calls on all parties to exercise restraint and to consider the welfare of the people that they represent when taking decisions or next steps. we also call upon the parties

to bring this escalation of violence to an end by restoring the november 2012 cease-fire, a call which has been repeated consistently by many members of the international community over recent days and which must be heeded as a matter of urgency. australia continues to urge both israel and the palestinians to resume negotiations towards a just and lasting two-state solution, with israel and the palestinian states existing side by side in peace and security within internationally recognized borders. as we're all aware, a two-state solution is the only basis for a durable peace between the parties. thank you, mr. president. >> thank you to the representative of australia for her statement. i give now the floor to the representative of chile. have the floor, sir. >> thank you, mr. president. eight days ago we met in urgent consultation to address the

situation in israel and palestine. in particular, we focused on the situation in the gaza strip. after those consultations, we adopted a statement to the press in which the council expressed its deep concern in response to the violence. unfortunately, the call to de-escalate tensions and to re-institute the november 12, 2012, cease-fire has been disregarded. instead, israel has escalated its activities, beginning the ground phase of its military operations. while hamas and other groups continue to launch rockets from the gaza strip. we deplore the lack of a firm commitment by the parties to de-escalate the conflict. we place a high value on the initiatives at the various regional and international actors who have fought to broker a cease-fire. nevertheless, we wonder whether repeating the mediation efforts

of past years would be the best option, given the changes in the political map of the middle east. we firmly support the efforts of the secretary general, and in particular of special coordinator robert surry to whom we reiterate our support. we would like to urgently call for the establishment of an immediate cease-fire and to protect the civilian population as well as to ensure the safety of u.n. staff. we believe that attacks on civilians in gaza and in israel violates international humanitarian law and could constitute war crimes. following yesterday's condemnation, we wish to recall the provisions of regulars lution 2143 of 2014 on children and on conflict, which was co-sponsored by my country. we condemn the use of schools for military purposes, in violation of applicable international law.

as the undersecretary recalled, this is the third large-scale conflict in the gaza strip in the past six years. the roots of the conflict run deep and it is the duty of this council to issue a statement in response. i thank you. >> i thank the representative of chile for his statement. i give now the floor to the representative of lithuania. >> i thank you. we sincerely thank undersecretary general feldman for his latest briefing. we are deeply concerned about the dramatic escalation of violence in the gaza strip and for the loss in human lives. we deeply deplore the growing number of civilian casualties, many of which are children, and we extend our most sincere condolences to the families. it's our greatest concern that this situation can rapidly

deteriorate even further, taking more human lives, having larger numbers of wounded and for increasing the most urgent humanitarian needs in the region which already were suffering a chronic lack of basic goods. we strongly condemn the firing of rockets from gaza and its tactics in indiscripple mat targeting of civilians. we join the u.n. and others strongly condemning the placement of rockets. we call on hamas to immediately put an end to these acts and to renounce violence. all terrorists and militant sees. in gaza must we want a cease-fire of the rockets from gaza and we're reminded that in doing so, israel must fully comply with international humanitarian law, act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times. furthermore, it has to

represent -- it has to respect its obligations to allow for an impeded access to humanitarian tape. cease-fire proposed by egypt was a rare hope. however, we deeply regret that this agreement was short-lived. we call on both states to immediately stop violence, de-escalate the situation and return home. the humanitarian court is no substitute. we welcome the growing efforts of the league of arab states and the regional partners, including egypt, to convince both sides to immediately stop all hostilities and restore the 2012 cease-fire agreement. we urge israeli and palestinian leaders to come to an immediate durable cease-fire and restart the dialogue. we remain committed to a two-state solution to israeli and palestinian conflict. i thank you. >> i thank you for your statement. i give now the floor to the representative of the united kingdom.

>> thank you, mr. president. i would also like to thank mr. feldman for his briefing and you, mr. president, for responding quickly to this urgent request and scheduling this meeting at short notice. as others have already said, the situation on the ground is deeply alarming and of great concern to us all. mr. president, the united kingdom has three objectives -- to secure a cease-fire, to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations, which are the only hope of breaking this cycle of violence and devastation once and for all. my government's position remains clear. we want to see immediate de-escalation and agreement on a durable cease-fire. the people of israel have the right to live without constant fear for their security. the people of gaza have the right to live safely in peace. steps must be taken now to address the underlying causes of the conflict.

we welcome the egyptian proposed cease-fire. acceptance israel's in principle of the cease-fire agreement and we welcome the palestinian's endorsement of the egyptian initiative. we also welcome the u.n.-facilitated humanitarian pause on 17 july. we call on hamas and all militant factions in gaza to sees hostility, ending all rocket fire into israel. we utterly condemn the firing of rockets into civilian areas. let me reiterate our support for israel's right to self-defense. israel faces a tough dilemma in responding to unacceptable rocket fire from gaza. but in exercising its right to self-defense, israel must act proportionately and take all necessary steps to minimize civilian casualties. as we have heard this afternoon, many innocent civilians are being killed.

mr. president, on our second objective we are deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian situation. there are hundreds of thousands of extremely vulnerable civilians in gaza who are suffering acutely from this crisis. access to clean water, power and medicines is becoming critically difficult. we urge all parties to continue to allow unhindered access throughout gaza. the united kingdom's support has enabled unra to respond to the crisis by continuing to provide crucial health services. on the third objective, any cease-fire needs to be genuinely sustainable. it is important to tackle the underlying causes of instability in the gaza strip without which the long-term security of both israel and gaza cannot be secured. as part of a cease-fire, we need to consider establishing a

viable verification and monitoring mission to ensure the implementation of any cease-fire agreement by all sides, learning lessons from the past. implementation of a cease-fire agreement, however, must only be one part of a wider effort to improve conditions in gaza. without that, we are likely to see further such cycles of violence. this should include the restoration of palestinian authority control in gaza. the opening up of legitimate movement and access and a permanent end to the unacceptable threat of rocket attacks and other forms of violence from gaza militants against israel. mr. president, the responsibility lies with both sides to make progress towards a permanent peace enshrined in a two-state solution. no other alternative option exists which guarantees peace and sustainable security for both israelis and palestinians. i thank you.

>> i thank the representative of the united kingdom for his statement. i give now the floor to the representative of -- >> thank you, mr. president. i'd like to thank mr. feldman, the undersecretary general for is briefing. chad is following the situation in the gaza strip with a great deal of concern. we condemn most firmly this newest escalation of violence which has claimed over 270 lives, including 30 today. 2,000 injured. 40,000 displaced, most of which re women and children. of course, thousands of are gone.and houses chad is outraged by this indiscriminate violence and

call upon israel to immediately put an end to its air raids, ground strikes, ground offensive, all of which are aimed mostly at civilians, is ols, hospitals, and this a serious violation of nternational humanitarian law. we urge palestinians to put an end to their attacks against israel from the gaza vip. this includes the rockets fired in the cross-border attacks. we urge both sides to exercise restraint to rapidly achieve the cease-fire and to lift all forms of blockade currently imposed on the gaza strip. in this respect chad wishes to thank the office of the international community and the countries of the region to stop

and put an end to hostilities. it is also a rarity where the citizens of gaza and all of the palestinian people during this very difficult people. we call on all of the international community to provide every possible form of support and assistance to the palestinian people, including medical supplies as well as emergency aid to the gaza strip. mr. president, the palestinian question has been on the u.n.'s agenda for over 66 years now and the palestinian people see no light of hope, no glimmer of hope based on the efforts undertaken, aimed at having them enjoy their rights to self-determination and put an end to the israeli occupation. the kind of situation in gaza is a very dangerous one and alarms as well. faced with this, the international community,

including this council, must act in a firm, fast, rapid way to put an end to this unprecedented cycle of violence and to create conditions conducive to peace between palestinians and israelis. indeed, one half million people of gaza can't enjoy a normal, dignified life. the blockade imposed upon the gaza strip by israel since 2007 with all borders sealed, closed, has rendered the daily life of its inhabitants very difficult. virtually no one can leave the gaza strip even if it was just to visit the west bank, where a great many of course have family and have worked in the past. health institutions and facilities and the transfer of medical equipment, building

equipment and a great many basic commodities, which are necessary for their upkeep, security-related incidents and the security zone between gaza and israel often claims human lives as well as the destruction of property. the young people, up to 50% of the 1.5 million inhabitants of the gaza strip, with an unemployment rate of over 40%, suffer from the lack of any prospect and are carrying out a constant fight to have some sort of hope in the future. in these difficult conditions, with the population marginalized, living in poverty, how can they even believe in something called the peace process? the middle east is currently going through a very difficult period in its history since a number of areas have already erupted in conflict.

we have syria, iraq, yemen. all of this constitutes a threat to international peace and security. the international community must step up to relaunch the process of dialogue between israelis and palestinians to achieve a fair, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region, one which would be based on the principle of two states based on the borders of 1967, pursuant to international law and the provisions of the security council resolutions as well as the madrid principles, including the exchange of land for peace, the road map, all agreements previously concluded between the parties and the arab peace initiative. reconciliation, intrapalestinian reconciliation should never stand as a pretext for israel to undermine the peace process. peace negotiations require

political will in a conducive environment as well as mutual confidence-building measures of people struggling under occupation with territory is slowly being eaten up by the ongoing building of settlements and other forms of aggression will lose any hope in a better future. >> i thank him for his statement and i give the floor now to the russian representative. >> mr. president, one cannot what remain unfazed to is happening in israel and the situation in the gast strip. we're extremely alarmed by this turn of events. there's every reason to worry that bloodshed will increase substantially in scale. the most important and pressing thing today is to stop the

armed conflict. as the victims of this conflict are an increasing number of people, palestinian civilians, including women and children. there is a need to rapidly protect civilians in palestine and israel from terrorist attacks and the disproportionate use of force. in his last statement on july 12, the council interail ya called upon the parties to abide by the principles of international law. there have been reports of israeli bombardment of the rehabilitation center in gaza. also unacceptable is the firing upon or rather the firing on other civilian facilities, including neutral houses. today reports came in regarding helicopter strikes. at the very least, one has been injured. international humanitarian law also requires the

demilltyryization of civilian facilities. in this respect it is with concern that we hear reports regarding the use of hamas fighters and other groups in gaza of schools for military purposes and stockpiling of munitions. and also using them to fire on eventual neighborhoods and civilian facilities in israel. of course, we understand israelis' concerns regarding the continuing firing of this territory from gaza. however, it is important to prevent the unleashing of the spiral of violence. otherwise the situation will spiral out of control. in these conditions we urge all sides to spare no efforts to rapidly achieve a cease-fire. in this context we welcome and ack egypt's mediation efforts. the initiative which israelis have agreed with in principle

as well as the palestinians could serve as the basis for a cease-fire agreement and for a truce. such a truce should not only be long term but also ensure that peace and tranquility is restored for israelis and that the gaza strip can continue to be developed, russia acting on a financial basis as well as a multilateral format was ready to assist in finding a solution to this very dangerous crisis around the gaza strip. the current crisis must prompt us to assist in achieving palestinian unity. we agree with the secretary general's comments that gaza must be under a single, legitimate palestinian government, one which would comply with the u.n.'s obligations and the provisions of the u.n. security council's provisions 1860. all must be respected both in terms of normalization, the crossing of border crossings and further interpalestinian

reconciliation. at the same time we would like to underscore that the very fierce situation today should take us back to the concept that there is no prospects for e current state and we are convinced that it should be back in a committed, collective way. even intensive attempts to gain lateral results have not worked. the time is now to step up the work of the quartet. need to prompt it to work with the league of our states. coming up of solutions must be collaborated jointly with the arabs, first and foremost, with egyptians, to ensure that they e part and parcel of the process of collaborating initiatives. thank you, sir. >> i thank you for your statement. i now give the floor to the

representative of luxembourg. >> mr. president, i should also like to thank the undersecretary general for political affairs, jeffrey feldman, for his breaching. the recent developments in israel and gaza lead to a terrible sense of terrible deja vu with a mixed and profound feeling of powerless necessary. the deja vu is following the reprisals of civilian victims on top of more civilian victims. the voices of hawks and extremists that drown out the voice of the moderates. the powerlessness is of the international community, which since the ends of the second world war continue to experience one of its most serious political and diplomatic failures in the region of the middle east. today the peace process is at a standstill and violence prevails. today, however, we need to repeat to all of those who wish to listen and particularly to

those who do not wish to listen that more war will not bring more security. or will not lead to anything if it only produces new tragedies, such as the tragedy that occurred two days ago which caused the death of a group of children, four brothers who were killed by shelling as they played on a beach in gaza. the ground defensive that was launched by israel against gaza has aroused our deepest concerns. of course, israel has the right to protect its population from rocket fire from gaza, and we condemn this. but that being the case, israel should act in a proportionate manner and should at all times ensure the protection of civilians. according to the most recent information in 11 days, israeli

military operations have produced numerous palestinian casualties, more than 270 dead and almost 1,800 wounded. the majority of whom are civilians. we are particularly shocked at the number of our palestinian children. as stated by the special representative for children in armed conflict, we are facing a crisis. that crisis is protecting children in gaza. let us recall that all parties are fully obligated under international humanitarian law to protect the lifes of civilians who are trapped by hostilities. this naturally also applies to hamas and to other militant groups who seek to indiscriminately strike at the heart of israeli urban centers. as part of their efforts to produce the highest possible number of civilian casualties,

yesterday the united nations released an agency for palestine refugees and discovered rockets that were hidden in one of its schools in gaza. it is unconscionable and it is cynical to play with the lives of children in this way. the facts show that those responsible for these acts and those who are intensifying their calls for scrawl's destruction are deliberately sacrificing the interests of the palestinian people. in the short term, all efforts of the international community should focus on the full cessation of hostilities. we deplore the fact that the humanitarian truce proposed yesterday by the united nations has not led up to a durable cease-fire. we call on the parties to de-escalate tensions in the conflict and to immediately conclude a cease-fire agreement. for its part luxembourg fully supports initiatives aiming to put an end to the violence and in particular, the initiative

of egypt, whose immediate efforts we would like to take this opportunity to recognize. we would also encourage the secretary general to visit the region and to pursue his efforts to achieve de-escalation. we would also like to reiterate unra and pport to the crucial role it plays to alleviate the suffering of the palestinian people. in the longer term, given the fact that war does not provide a solution, we must give a chance to peace. in order to give a chance to peace, we must begin by giving a chance to the peace process. it is imperative that israelis and palestinians resume dialogue in order to try to close the political gap that exists between them today. in order to stop the spiral of

violence, the best path and the only path to follow is that of a resumption of talks in order to find a global agreement as part of a two-state solution. i thank you. >> i thank the representative of luxembourg for her statement. i give now the floor to the representative of argentina. >> thank you very much, mr. president. we wish to thank mr. feldman for his briefing and we also wish to thank the representative of the state of palestine and israel for their tatements. the security council cannot remain indifferent in the face of the tragic events that are occurring in the gaza strip and israel. i would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the president for organizing this very important meeting. , for sident, once again the third time in six years we e that once again there is

conflict between israel and in the gaza strip, and it has taken a great toll. it is causing a great number of victims both in israel and in palestine. on 12 july the security council sent a very clear message. it called for de-escalation of violence. it called for restoration of calm and a re-substitution of the november, 2012, cease-fire. it also called for a respect for international humanitarian aw and for the protection of civilians. at this time military operations by israel have left 114 palestinians dead and 1,800 wounded. there are some 270-plus palestinians who have died in gaza and there have been

thousands of individuals who have been displaced. this is part of this picture of destruction and suffering. we, therefore, condemn -- very firmly condemn the fact that this council's calls and the calls of the secretary general for peace as well as the call of the international community have been disregarded, and the crisis has only escalated and israel has begun its ground offensive. this will only create more instability in the region. it will create more victims and cause more suffering. we also condemn the continued and indiscriminate launching of ockets from gaza into israel .s well as demilitarization argentina supports ongoing efforts in order to put an end to all military activities and to stop this bloodshed. we would urge both parties to

unite and to support the efforts that were made by egypt and other international actors in order to establish an immediate and lasting cease-fire. we also support the efforts of the secretary general of the united nations. once calm has been returned to the region, it will be once calm has been returned to the region t. will be time to take specific steps forward to stop violence and address conditions that underlie this conflict. humanitarian assistance needs to be guaranteed. safe humanitarian passage needs to be guaranteed as well and border crossings need to be opened for such assistance. and we need to ensure that there is one single palestinian authority that governs throughout the entire territory and speak for the palestinian people as a whole. that is why we deplore the fact this situation is being used to

undermine the palestinian unity government, which has been recognized by those who are seeking peace in the region. these tragic events have once again illustrated the need for parties to renew the negotiations, genuine negotiations and to establish the -- according to these parameters internationally established that of two states living side-by-side in peace. nothing can replace dialogue and negotiation cannot be replaced either. in order to achieve this objective, it should continue to be our priority. argentina is convinced that security council must once again renew its commitment to addressing this situation. if our initial message was not heard, perhaps it's the time for us to speak in a stronger and

single voice. we need to use all tools available to us in order to put an end to the hostilities and respect international law. argentina is prepared to play its role and to fulfill its duty in order to ensure the security council undertakes its institutional responsibilities and supports peace efforts. argentina wishes to expressly state that political leaders of -- on both sides are the ones who have provoked so much suffering and they are the ones who are responsible for each and every victim that this conflict has produced. the international community and this council must ensure that so much death, so much killing is not -- that impunity does not prevail. that someone is held

responsible. and this is part of efforts to achieve a lasting peace. i thank you. >> i thank the representative of argentina for her statement. i give now the floor to republican tive of the republic of korea. >> thank you, mr. president, for organizing today's briefing to discuss the volatile situation in the middle east. i also thank undersecretary-general for his presentation. the public of korea is deeply concerned as the situation in israel and the gaza strip is plunging dangerously into greater turmoil. fierce air strikes continue to rocket and are gravely affecting civilians on both sides. the launch of a ground operation by israel is alarming as it represents a serious escalation of the situation. we condemn the indiscriminate rocket attempts from gaza into israel. the increased range of the

rockets being deployed by hamas and islamic jihad is particularly troubling as it can expand clashes to an even more dangerous level. at the same time we are concerned by the mounting civilian casualties in gaza as a result of israeli air strikes and shelling. we fear that such a large number of casualties will only increase if the ongoing hostilities continue. the humanitarian situation is also dire and just daily updates on gaza are a harrowing read as they detail over 600,000 at risk of losing access to water, traumatized children in need of support, mass displacement and profound lack of food and medicine. unwar and the ongoing

appreciate robert kerrey for egotiating the agreement between the two sides. mr. president, the public of korea urges all israelis and palestinians to exercise maximum restraint before the situation spins even further out of control. we encourage the regional mediators to redouble efforts to bring peace. while we are dismayed the earlier egyptian-proposed cease-fire did not hold, we hope new modalities can be agreed upon that can be relief to those in the cross-fire. we reiterate our call for immediate cease-fire as articulated by this council's statement july 12. we support -- strongly support secretary-general's efforts to deescalate the situation, including through his trip

through the middle east tomorrow. why working for a durable cease-fire in gaza and lastening tension in the west bank, we must keep in mind that the only long term answer is negotiated settlement with the two-state solution. as such the public of korea appears to both sides to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. thank you. >> i thank the representative of the public of korea for his statement. i shall now mack a statement in my capacity as a representative of rwanda. briefing thank for the on the current crisis in the middle east, especially institution gaza. abs, thank ambassador current of palestinian and representative of israel to the u.n. for their respective

statements. since the beginning of this month, the security council issued three prior statements on the situation of the region starting by the current condition of the kidnapping and killing of the three israeli teenagers as well as palestinian teenager. last thursday the security council convened an emergency meeting to discuss this tragedy, which was followed by the third statement of the month and situation in israel and palestine issued saturday. in this statement council members called for deescalation of the situation, restoration of calm, reinstitution of the november 2012 cease-fire, and respect for international humanitarian law, including protection of civilians. unfortunately, the situation today in gaza shows that parties on the ground did not heed to

this call. hostilities have farther escalated, which led to dire humanitarian consequences. these conflicts have now claimed er 260 lives and left over 48,000 displaced. the short humanitarian post in gaza, which had allowed the u.n. and partners to deliver humanitarian assistance to thousands of people who are in dire need. we call on more humanitarians to allow more deliveries to flow without hindrance. we express our strong support for the cease-fire agreement that was brokered by egypt, as it did in november 2012. we know that this proposal was accepted by israel, the palestinian authority, and the league of arab states but rejected by hamas.

we call upon hamas to immediately cease-fire and stop its indiscriminate rocket fire into israel. furthermore, why we recognize the right of israel to solve difference, we call on the israeli defense forces to exercise maximum restraint and ensure civilians in gaza are protected. to conclude, we affirm that the israeli-palestinian conflict, longest conflict on the agenda of the security council, will only end with the creation of a viable palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security with a secured state of israel. in this regard we call on the countries of the region, the united states and other countries with influence to the parties to redouble their efforts in order to reach plail settlement and help palestinians

and israelis fulfilling their legitimate aspirations for peace, security and prosperity. i thank you. i resume my function as president of the council. there are no more names on the list of speakers. security council concluded the present stage of consideration of the items on the agenda and the meeting is adjourned. this you so much. - i thank you so much. >> the u.n. security council meeting on the fighting between israelis and palestinians has just wrapped up. watching live coverage on c-span. it was the second meeting of the security council today. this morning there was an emergency meeting to discuss the malaysian airliner that was shot down over ukraine.

u.s. ambassador to the u.n. samantha power said the jet was likely downed by a surface-to-air missile. and she said there's evidence the missile was fired by separatists loyal to russia. her remarks are up next on c-span, followed by statements from the ambassadors from ussia, ukraine and malaysia. >> thank you plrks president. yesterday we were all shocked by the downing of malaysian airlines flight 17. all 298 people aboard, 283 passengers and 15 crew, were killed. as we stared at the passenger list yesterday, we saw next to three of the passengers' names a capital i. as we now know, the letter i stands for infant. to the families and friends of the victims, it is impossible to

find words to express our condolences. we can only commit to you that we will not rest until we find out what happened. a full, credible and unimpeded international investigation must begin immediately. the perpetrators must be brought to justice. they must not be sheltered by any member state of the united nations. let me share with you our assessment of the evidence so far. we assess malaysian airlines flight 17 carrying these 298 people from amsterdam to kuala lumpur was likely downed by surface-to-air missile, sa-11, operated from a separatist-held location in eastern ukraine. the airliner was traveling at a cruise altitude of 33,000 feet and speed typical of airliner along an established flight corridor, frequented by

commercial traffic. the flight was transmitting its assigned transponder code compeapeding with its flight plan and flight tracking data was publicly available on the internet. there was nothing threatening or roductive about mh-17. of the operational sam systems located near the border, only sa-11, sa-20 and sa-22 systems are capable of hitting an aircraft at this flight's altitude of 33,000 feet. we can rule out shorter range known to be in separatist hands including man pads, sa-8 and sa-13 systems, which are not capable of hitting an aircraft at this altitude. early thursday an sa-11 sam stem was reported nearby a western reporter and separatists followed hours before the incident with an sa-11 system at

a location close to the site where the plane came down. separatists initially claimed responsibility for shooting down a military transport plane and posted videos now being connected to the malaysian airlines crash. separatist leaders also boasted on social media about shooting down a plane but later deleted these messages. because of the technical complexity of the sa-11, it is unlikely separatist could effectively operate the system without assistance from knowledgeable personnel, thus we cannot rule out technical assistance from russian personnel in operating the system. the ukrainians do have sa-11 systems in their inventory, however, we are not aware of any ukrainian sam systems in the area of the shootdown and, more importantly, since the beginnle of this crisis, ukrainian air defenses have not fired a single missile, despite several alleged violations of their air space by russian aircraft.

this also follows a pattern of action by russian-backed separatists. on june 13, separatists shot down the ukrainian transport plane carrying 40 paratroopers and nine crew. on june 24 as this council was meeting to welcome ukraine's unilateral cease-fire, we received word separatists downed a ukrainian helicopter, killing all nine on board. on july 14, separatist claimed credit for the downing of ukrainian military cargo plane flying 6,000 meters and on july 16, claim credit for downing of the ukrainian fighter jet. if indeed russian-backed separatists were behind this attack on a civilian airliner, they and backers would have good reason to cover up evidence of their crime. thus it is extremely important that an investigation be commenced immediately. in the fist instance, the osce special monitoring mission should act as first responder laying the foundation for

efforts by other international organizations and individual nations, including those citizens who were victims of this tragedy. yesterday president obama ensured president pore schenkio u.s. experts will offer all possible assistance upon his request. the president invited the independent and civil international organization to join an investigation. international investigators must be granted immediate, full and unfettered access to the crash site. all of those concern, russia, pro russian separatists and ukraine should agree to support an immediate cease-fire to facilitate access by international investigators. in this regard, we look to the s.m.m. also to reach agreement with separatists and others in the region to make this possible. also evidence must remain undisturbed and any evidence removed from the site by the russian-backed separatists operating in the area should be promptly returned and handed over. russia needs to help make this happen. while it may take us some time

to firmly establish who shot down a plane filled with innocents, most council members and most members of the international community have been warning for months about the devastation that would come if russia did not stop what it started. if it did not rein in what it unleashed. the context for yesterday's horror is clear. separatist forces backed by the russian government continued to destabilize ukraine and under mine the efforts of ukraine's elected leaders to build a democratic ukraine that is stabled, unified, secure and able to determine its own future. russia says it seeks peace in ukraine. but we have repeatedly provided this council with evidence of russia's continued support to the separatists. time after time we have called on the russian government to deescalate the situation by stopping the flow of fighters and weapons into ukraine, pressing separatists to agree to a cease-fire and release all hostage and support a road map for negotiations. time after time president putin

has committed towards working toward dialogue in peace. in normandy in june and berlin earlier this month and every single time he has broken that commitment. here's what we know. in the last few weeks russia increase the the number of tanks, armored vehicles and rocket launchers in southwest russia. more advanced air systems also arrived. moscow recently transferred soviet air tanks and artillery to the separatists and several military vehicles crossed the border. after recapturing several ukrainian cities last weekend, officials discovered caches of weapons long associated with russian stock piles, including man pads, mines, grenades, m.r.e.'s, and pontoon bridge. ukrainian forces discovered large amounts of russian-provided equipment including accompanying documentation verifying russian origin in the areas they have liberated from separatists in recent days. recruiting efforts for separatist fighters are

expanding inside russia and separatists openly said they're looking for volunteers with experience operating heavy weapons such as tanks and air defenses. russia allowed officials from people's republic to establish an office in moscow. ukrainian pilot who long had a distinguished career was taken by separatists in mid-june. she's now being held, where? in a prison in russia. according to the ukrainian government she was transfered to russia by separatists. russia continues to redeploy new forces extremely close to the ukrainian border. in addition this past monday, a ukrainian air force cargo plane was shot down in ukrainian air space and wednesday ukrainian fighter jet also shot down in ukrainian air space. in both instances the government believes they were fired on from russian territory. it is because of these continuing destabilizing actions

the united states posts sanctions on the defense, energy and financial sectors of the russian economy including financial institutions. they include freezing assets of russian defense companies and blocking financing of some of russia's most important banks and energy companies. these sanctions are significant but they are also targeted, designed to have maximum impact on the russian calculus while limiting the impact on the russian people and limiting any spill-over effects on our interests or those of our allies. the european union also announced expanded sanctions against russia this week. the message is unified and clear -- if president putin continues to choose escalation over deescalation, the international community will continue to impose costs on russia. but this is not what any of us want. we in our allies remain committed to a diplomatic solution as are une cranian government and ukrainian people who have seen their neighbors, friends and family members killed in a needless conflict.

the president consistently backed up his words with actions. he proposed comprehensive peace plan and declared unilateral cease-fire, both of which were rejected by armed groups and backers in moscow. offered amnesty to separatists who laid down arms voluntarily and not guilty of capital crimes. he committed to providing safe corridor for russian fighters to return to russia. he established a john creation program for the effected areas, including an offer of broad decentralization and dialogue with eastern regions including promise of early local elections. and granted increased local control over language, holidays and customs. president poroshenko also reached out to the residents of eastern ukraine and pursuing constitutional reform which will give local regions more authority to choose their regional leaders and protect locally spoken languages. he has said will he meet with separatists at any safe location inside or outside the ukraine. the united states' goal throughout the crisis has been

consistent to support a stable, peaceful and democratic ukraine. we will not be satisfied with a temporary halt of violence. russia must stop destabilizing ukraine and allow the people of ukraine to decide their country's future through a democratic, political process. as we sit here the remains of nearly 300 people of innocent, infants, children, women and men are strewn across a blackened, smoldering landscape in ukraine. those victims came from at least nine different nations. they could just as easily have come from any of ours. we must treat all of them as our own victims. we have a dutedwroy each and every one of those individuals, their families, and their countries to determine why that jet fell out of the sky and to hold the perpetrators accountable. we must stop at nothing to bring those responsible to justice. this appalling attack occurred in the context of a crisis fueled by russian support for separatist through arms, weapons and training and by the russian failure to follow through on its

commitments and by failure to add here to the fundamental principles of the u.n. charter. this tragedy only underscores the urgency and determination with which we insist russia immediately take concrete steps to deescalate the situation in ukraine, support a sustainable cease-fire and follow the path towards peace that the ukrainian government has consistently offered. this war can be ended. russian can end this war. russian must end this war. >> thank you. translator: we would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the passengers and members, crew members of the flight which crashed as well as the government of those countries whose citizens are victims of this tragedy.

there need for a partial open nvestigation of what happened. what shouldn't be fwrout bear on this investigation prejudge the outcome with broad statements and insinuations that are not justified. it's a difficult situation. we think it would be right to create an international commission. mr. president, for any normal person i'm sure first and foremost the question would arise, why did the ukraine aviation dispatcher send a flight to an area of military crashes and area being used for carrying out strikes against civilians amongst others? and were there were anti-aircraft systems working, ensuring the security effective use of aviation in air space in

a state in line with international standards on the territory with the flight being carried out. the state must provide aviation information necessary for ensuring the security of aviation. international law plans for the possibility of timely closure by dangerous forreas flight. it seems there would need to be investigation but also the except through which the ukrainian authority carried out their possible gations and provide necessary and did everything necessary so as to ensure that the military mpaign of kiev would prevent that occurrence. today kiev declared full closure of the air space under the anti-terrorist operation. why couldn't this have been done earlier, not waiting for hundreds of victims to be incurred?

colleagues estern and council restrained the use of force. well, here's that restraint now. -- the storming of aviation and artillery tanks as strikes re and air discriminating in nature. the operation is increasingly full scale to target civilian structures and infrastructures. dozens of civilians killed as well as transport systems deployed and community targeted and medical centers. according to the data there are 45 million people in the area of

clashes but there have been no evacuation of civilians from these areas by kiev. people have to leave the areas of military clashes by themselves, by risking their life. there are many reports that people fleeing war in particular eking refuge in russia are ntentionally targeted. at the time russia hosted morning 110,000 refugees from eastern ukraine and the number rises every day. this data is confirmed by the unchr. in six regions of russia it has been declared all tillery and mortar shelling you by une cranian armed forces into russia is irregular. the targets are border crossing points as well as civilians.

there are killed and wounded amongst our civilians. we are seeing provocations as aggressive acts from the ukraine's side with respect to sovereign russian territory and citizens of the russian generation. we place all blame on kiev powers of government and call for ukrainian side to take decisive measures to stem such incidents in the future. we warn about the danger in the ukraine and call for inclusive respectful all political forces in kiev. however, at a crossroads moment, kiev chose the wrong path. and the western colleagues -- i'm talking about the u.s. here, pushed them to escalate the risis.

they are trying to lay the blame for the catastrophe caused by the attack on russia. when you said agreement cast aside as well as road map of the chairman, declaration from 17 april and declaration from 2 july were also deemed irrelevant. however, representatives of the kiev government drafted them. it broadly proclaimed the peace pretext for me a military preparation and deployment of the operation. the kiev government has decided ter the february uprising to terroristsh kiev and nd on channel 5 of the

ukrainian television, there was a commercial shown stepping insects against back drop of eastern ukraine. there has been a violent .ppression whohe number of citizens continue to survive. dozens have disappeared. it was seen that kiev would like to garner support from europeans , then give it to the people. indeed, hold on to the course and distribution of talent from .he president of the parliament does this violence surprise

the policy has long been problematic in ukraine. bringing them to dialogue would allow for prevention of further exacerbation of the crisis, but we have chosen to arrest them, the them -- beat them. the international community has not risen to the occasion. the reason is with our western partners, and much is said, but to settle the situation, nothing is done. in the security council, the russian delegation three times resolutions,ous which would allow for halting of .iolence in the ukraine but western colleagues responded to our proposal with blatant cynicism. it seems that whatever the

government arbitrarily does is viewed favorably, but it seems of thee victims geopolitical ambitions of the regime are actually a whole .eople negotiations for the crisis are still possible, but the right choice must be made. thank you. president, the service members of the security council thank you for convening this meeting. i thank the secretary general for his briefing. to start by addressing my governments condolences to all the nations whose citizens were killed in a terrible crash of malaysian airlines.

today, the whole ukraine is morning. the embassieshing in order to lay down flowers. ukrainians have already addressed international other, to undertake a full investigation of the accident. yesterday, ukrainian leadership has happened. it was stated that it was an act of terror. the position of the government is based on data from different governments and open sources.

these data are the aircraft was shot down by terrorists. several days before around the same location, two ukrainian jets were shut down, and terrorist leaders claimed responsibility for these acts. interception of telephone conversations between terrorist leaders and their coordinator, intelligence,nt confirms the terrorists are standing behind these crimes. as compensation is recorded, and the secretary promised to convey to members of the security council -- this conversation is recorded. the military leader of the commented, boasting on social networks, of having shut down what he believed was a theinian jet by saying,

crashes are lying somewhere around the airline progress. everyone not to fly in the skies. to target and shut down a plane on such a high altitude of 10 only bers would possible using sophisticated antiaircraft systems such as sa11 or similar. that's confirmed both from radio interception of of terrorist leaders and video recording from citizens of the local citizens that terrorists have at least sa systems.wo the question is where they got this sophisticated air defense system from. again, interceptions, photos, and confessions of detained terrorists, including russian joinens who were going to

terrorists as expert in adjustment of fire -- all these and other evidences and materials have been provided to the international investigation. would not have been possible if russia did not support the terrorists and did not provide sadistic -- sophisticated antiaircraft systems. many times, the security council was addressed with information about russia supporting the terrorists in eastern ukraine. a large exhibition of israeli

military forces from the placeist groups took years ago. in most cases, actual militants of russian armed forces are specified in those weapons. the documentary could be on the website of the ukrainian mission as well as .rom yesterday's conference you can find it in the website of the united nations. we have been raised several for there in this hall concerned that russian nationals directly participate in the destabilization of eastern ukraine. today, some information was given by the colleagues. luhansk perof

claim or public. leaders of donetsk proclaim republic. they are looking for volunteers with experience operating heavy weapons such as tanks and air defense. russia has allowed us tablet and offices in moscow, which are operating on recruiting and sending russian nationals to eastern regions of ukraine. numerous groups of the russian formations are supporting terrorists in spreading terror in eastern ukraine. ofoughout the whole period this artificially created culture by russia, it has never of the recalled on its citizens to refrain from joining illegal

armed groups on the territory of ukraine. .his fact speaks for itself in armed groups, which are not determined by the federal law, as well as participation in such armed groups on the territory of foreign state, with a purpose contrary to the interest of russian federation is punished by five to 10 years imprisonment. the russian nation has been brought to justice for such actions, there is only one conclusion -- their participation in illegal armed on the territory of ukraine does not contradict the interest of the russian federation. on president, the situation the ukrainian-russian state border has significantly deteriorated in recent days as a result of systematic violations coming from the russian side of the border as well as provocative action by armed

skrrorist groups in the luhanks donetsk regions. mercenaries undertake attempts to break through the ukrainian state border from each side of russia. these attempts are actively facilitated by russian border protection units. antiterrorist forces in ukraine were repeatedly shelled from the territory of russia. ukraine has all the evidence for the appropriate international response. the number provocations on the border has increased substantially. the territory is systematically fired at in order to create the false image of ukrainian firing. it has caused the death of russian citizens. the russian armed forces accused the ukrainian forces of invading acrossritory of russia

the region. ukrainian forces have never attacked or fired into the territory of russia. all such provocations are committed by pro-russian terrorists in order to find ground. like a new publication, today statement of the russian foreign ministry. rov wanted to provide strikes against territory of ukraine. mr. president, today, colleagues of theed some evidence deterioration on the ukrainian-russian borders. every day during the month of july, we observed such violations, including the -- the shot down ukrainian jets. using this opportunity, i would like to attract once again your

attention, members of the security council, that russia continues to redeployed new forces extremely close to the ukrainian border. as of july 14, the total number of russian armed forces on the regional border has been .ignificantly increased in occupied territory of crimea, up to 21,000 troops. those and similar actions constitute a flagrant violation of russia of each public nation under the and charter and other university recognized principles, the norms of international law. those actions are incompatible with obligations of the russian .ederation under the agreement despite all international efforts to avoid further

, they have no intention to leave us in peace and lay down arms. military saboteurs are willing to shred ukraine and create instability. ukraine demands that the russian side immediately cease provocation on the state border efforts andstop the put an end to terrorism. threatening peace and security in our country, region, and the world as a whole. i thank you, mr. president. >> thank you, mr. president. onow me to congratulate you assuming the presidency of the security council for this month.

i thank you for convening this emergency meeting of the council on ukraine. wish to also thank the under secretary general of political affairs for his briefing earlier. is convening of this meeting indeed timely, given the tragic incident involving malaysian airlines flight mh17. our nation is deeply touched by condolence,ons of sympathy, and support from across the world at this ethical time. we wish to also express our profound sorrow and convey our deepest and at these and condolences to the families and friends of those on board mh17. mr. president, malaysia is shocked and distraught by the downing of malaysian airlines flight mh17. the scheduled flight, which amsterdam yesterday

afternoon was expected to arrive kuala lumpur international airport this morning. unfortunately, it crashed in the donetsk region of eastern ukraine. 298 people perished in this incident. those who parents were from the malaysia, 44,89, 12,ralia, 27, indonesia, united kingdom, nine, germany, 4, philippines, three, canada, one, new zealand, one, and 4 passengers whose nationalities have yet to be verified.

the amsterdam: an important route -- the amsterdam kuala was one of the most popular for the airlines. according to the international airport association, at a time when contact was lost, it was flying over land restricted airspace. furthermore, the international civil aviation organization had declared the flightpath to be safe. malaysia airlines also confirmed that the aircraft did not make any distress calls. the government of malaysia has taken immediate action to dispatch a special malaysia disaster team. the royal malaysian air force, malaysian airlines, department of civil aviation as well as

addition, 14, in airlines that have been dispatched to amsterdam to support the family and next of kin of the victims. malaysia welcomes the pledges of support and assistance made by other countries to aid the , anch, rescue, recovery investigation efforts. mr. president, yesterday, the prime minister spoke to ,resident poroshenko of ukraine the prime minister of the netherlands, president obama of the united states, and president putin of russia. in those conversations, the prime minister stressed that if indeed mh17 had been shut down, the perpetrators must be swiftly .rought to justice malaysia strongly condemns any

such actions in the strongest possible terms, as it would be a fragrant violation of international law and an outrage against human decency. a full, demands independent, and transparent international investigation into the incident involving the relevant international authorities, including the international civil aviation organization. wish to inform the meeting that malaysia has been formally invited by ukrainian authorities to take heart in the investigation, and we will be sending two representatives to kiev as soon as possible. we urge the parties in conflict in the area of the crash site to provide their fullest cooperation. facilitates the safe and unhindered access for the investigation and

humanitarian personnel to carry out their mission, including collecting the relevant data, evidence, remains, and personal effects of the victims. we wish to underscore that there must be no interference at the or movement of debris from the area, including the flight data recorder or lack box -- black box. the integrity of the crash site must be reserved -- preserved. malaysia also urges the security council to undertake the necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian and investigative site inl in the crash order for them to discuss their duties and responsibilities. mr. president, further facts remain unknown at this point, but the fact that the plane might have been shut down has

made the matter even more painful for us. again, this is a grave reminder of how escalation of disputes and threats to international peace and security claim innocent lives in a most tragic and senseless manner. in this regard, we urge the security council to step up its role in facilitating a peaceful resolution to the conflict between russia and ukraine with a view to preventing the recurrence of such a tragic incident. in concluding, on behalf of the government and the people of , i wish to convey our deep appreciation for all the expressions of support, sympathy, and severity in this difficult and trying time. i thank you, mr. president.

>> on social media, we are asking your opinion about the malaysian airliner that was shot down over ukraine. you can join the conversation at facebook.com/cspan and on twitter with the #cspanchat. on facebook, jay writes -- then from carl -- houser today at the white , president obama made a statement about the malaysia airlines flight shot down over ukraine. he also talked about israel's military action in gaza. the president spoke and took questions for 20 minutes.

>> good morning, everybody. yesterday, malaysian airlines took off from amsterdam and was shot down over ukraine near the russian border. nearly 300 innocent lives were taken. men, women, children, infants who had nothing to do with the crisis in ukraine. their deaths are an outrage of unspeakable proportions. we know at least one american , quin lucas johnson -- schontzman, was killed. yesterday, i spoke with ukraine, malaysia, and the netherlands, and i told them that our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families and that the american people stand together with them in this difficult time. later today, i will be speaking with prime minister abbot of australia, which also suffered a

terrible loss. by far, the country that lost the most people on board the plane was the netherlands. from the days of our founding, we have been close friends and allies. i want the dutch people to know that we stand with you shoulder to shoulder in our grief and in our absolute determination to get to the bottom of what happened. here is what we know so far. evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile launched from an area that is controlled by russian backed separatists inside of ukraine. we also know that this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern ukraine. over the last several weeks, russian backed separatist have shot down a ukrainian transport plane and a ukrainian helicopter, and they claimed responsibility for shooting down a ukrainian fighter jet.

moreover, we know that the separatists have received a steady flow of support from russia. this includes arms and training. it includes heavy weapons. and it includes antiaircraft weapons. here is what must happen now. this was a global tragedy. an asian airliner was destroyed in european skies filled with citizens from many countries. there has to be a credible international investigation into what happened. the un security council has endorsed this investigation and we will hold all its members, including russia, to their word in order to facilitate that investigation. russia, pro-russian separatist, and ukraine must adhere to an immediate cease-fire. evidence must not be tempered with. -- tampered with. investigators need to access the crash site and returning what was lost to their loved ones

must start in this -- immediately. the fbi and the national transportation safety board, which has experience with working with international partners on these types of investigations, they are on their way, personnel from the fbi and the ntsb. i will be in close contact with leaders around the world as we respond to this catastrophe. our immediate focus will be on recovering those who were lost, investigating exactly what happened, and putting forward the facts. i want to point out there will likely be misinformation as well. i think it is very important for folks to sift through what is factually based and what is simply speculation. no one can deny the truth in the awful images that we've seen.

the eyes of the world are on eastern ukraine. we will make sure the truth is out. more broadly, i think it is important for us to recognize that this outrageous event underscores that it is time for peace and security to be restored in ukraine. for months, we have supported a pathway to peace and the ukrainian government has reached out to all ukrainians, put forward a peace plan, and we have done a cease-fire despite the violations by separatists, violations that took the lives of ukrainian soldiers and personnel. moreover, time and again, russia has refused to take the concrete steps necessary to de-escalate the situation. i spoke to president putin yesterday in the wake of additional sanctions that we had imposed. he said he was not happy with

them, and i told him that we have been very clear from the outset that we want russia to take the path that would result in peace in ukraine, but so far at least, russia has failed to take that path. instead, it has continued to violate ukrainian sovereignty, and to support violent separatist. it has also failed to force the separatist to abide by a cease-fire. that is why we have imposed more sanctions on russia. it is time for all of us to step back and take a hard look at what happened. violence and conflict inevitably lead to unforeseen consequences. russia, the separatists, and ukraine all have the capacity to put an end to the fighting. meanwhile, the u.s. is going to continue to lead efforts within the world community to de-escalate the situation, to stand up for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine, and to support the

people of ukraine as they courageously worked to strengthen their democracy and make their own decisions about how they should move forward. before i take just a couple of questions, let me remark on one other issue. this morning, i spoke with prime minister netanyahu about the situation in israel and gaza. we discussed in israel -- israel's military operation, including efforts to stop military operations, including tunnels into israel. i reaffirmed my strong support for israel's right to defend itself. no nation should accept rockets being fired into its borders, or terrorists settling into its territory. in fact, while i was having a conversation with mr. netanyahu, the sirens went off in tel aviv. i also made clear that the united states and our friends and allies are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life. that is why we have indicated

them although we support military efforts by the israelis to make sure that rockets are not being fired into their territory, we have also said that our understanding of current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels. we are hopeful that is where israel will continue to approach this process, in a way that minimizes civilian casualties. and all of us are working hard to return to the cease-fire that was reached in november of 2012. secretary kerry supports that. let me close by making one additional comment. on board the flight there were nearly 100 researchers and advocates traveling to a conference in australia to a

conference to combat combating aids and hiv. these are men and women a dedicated their own lives to saving the lives of others, and they were taken from us in a senseless act of violence. in this world today, we should not forget in the midst of conflict and killing, there are people like these, people focused on what can be built rather than destroyed. how they can define themselves not by what makes them different, but by the humanity that we hold in common. it is important to lift them up and to affirm their lives, and heed their example. the united states of america will continue to stand for the basic principle that people have the right to live as they choose, determine their own destiny, and it is on the side of truth.