Arab States Call Emergency UN General Assembly Session As Gaza Strip Protests Persist

At the behest of Arab states, the United Nations General Assembly will convene an emergency session on Wednesday, when a resolution vetoed earlier this month by the United States in the Security Council condemning Israel for its response to the ongoing protests in the Gaza Strip is likely to be passed by a wide margin. The resolution condemns the Israeli army’s use of live-fire to disperse rioters participating in the two-months-long “March of Return” demonstrations, which has resulted in the deaths of over 100 Palestinians, a large percentage of them members of either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorist groups. It also calls for an international force to be deployed to Gaza to protect residents, while making no mention of Hamas’ role in promoting the violence. This past Friday some 10,000 people converged on five locations along the Israel-Gaza border, as the ostensible protests once again descended into mass chaos, leading to the killing of four Palestinians who allegedly were among those throwing explosive devices at IDF troops. The following day, an Israeli aircraft for the first time fired warning shots at Gazans preparing to fly incendiary objects into Israeli territory, a new tactic leading to the introduction into the Israeli lexicon of terms such as “terror kites” and “agricultural terrorism.” In response, the Israeli military has developed new counter-measures—such as the use of modified racing drones—to intercept the primitive weapons that have caused massive amounts of damage to fields, crops and nature reserves along the frontier. The Israeli cabinet is slated to meet early this week to discuss taking steps—in conjunction with the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and other regional players—to alleviate the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.