The UN Mideast envoy says the latest escalation in Gaza between its Hamas rulers and Israel is a warning of "how close to the brink of war we are every day." Nikolay Mladenov told an emergency Security Council meeting today that the international community should "unequivocally condemn" Hamas' rocket and mortar attack against Israel.
But he said "the dangerous escalation" can't be divorced from two months of protests at the Gaza fence in which some 110 Palestinians were killed and large numbers injured by Israeli fire.
The Security Council remained paralysed, unable to agree on any action.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley, who called the meeting, said a proposed statement to condemn the Hamas attacks was blocked. The US previously blocked three statements to condemn Israeli killings during the protests.