UNITED NATIONS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait has circulated a draft resolution urging the UN Security Council to send international force to protect civilians in Gaza, diplomatic sources said here Friday.
Kuwait also demands that Israel "immediately cease its military reprisals, collective punishment and unlawful use of force against civilians, including in the Gaza Strip," the sources added.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon has responded to the draft resolution in a statement which has been obtained by Xinhua.
The statement said that "Israel will continue to defend its sovereignty and the security of its citizens against the terror and murderous violence of Hamas."
The United States has defended Israel's actions in Gaza and will very likely veto the resolution if it is put to a vote, the sources noted.
The draft resolution came after the Security Council couldn't agree on a statement about the violence in Gaza Monday that left some 60 Palestinians dead.
Palestinian officials said it was a "massacre" of protesters demonstrating against a decade-long blockade. Israel said it was defending its border against a terrorism-fueled mob.
"This is a purely man-made conflict," said Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian scholar and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
