Security Council calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Bernard Kouchner (C), foreign minister of  France, votes for approval of the resolution  calling for ceasefire between Israel and  Hamas in Gaza during the United Nations  Security Council meeting on Gaza crisis at  the UN headquarters in New York, the United  States, Jan. 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Hou Jun)

The resolution also "calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including food, fuel and medicines."

The Security Council "welcomes the initiative aimed at creating and opening humanitarian corridors and other mechanisms for the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid," the resolution said.

The Security Council "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism."

The Security Council "calls upon member states to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable ceasefire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained reopening of the crossing points on the basis of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access between the Palestinian Authority and Israel," the resolution said.

Meanwhile, the Security Council also "welcomes the Egyptian initiative, and other regional and international efforts that are under way," the resolution said, referring to a peace initiative announced by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.

The Security Council "welcomes the Quartet's consideration, in consultation with other parties, of an international meeting in Moscow in 2009," the resolution said.

The Quartet groups the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States in search of peace in the Middle East.

Editor:Zhang Yun