WORLD> Middle East
Security Council schedules emergency consultations
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-04 08:09

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council scheduled emergency consultations Saturday night to address the escalation of violence in Gaza, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate halt to Israel's ground operation.


Pro-Palestinian demonstrators walk past the Houses of Parliament in London, during a protest in response to the Israeli air strikes on Gaza, January 3, 2009. [Agencies]

The decision to hold consulations came after Israeli tanks and infantry rolled into Gaza in a ground offensive in a widening war against Hamas.

Ban said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned over the serious further escalation" of violence in Gaza.

The statement said Ban had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "and conveyed his extreme concern and disappointment" at the invasion.

Ban "is convinced and alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering of the affected civilian populations" and "called for an immediate end to the ground operation," the statement said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several Arab foreign ministers are flying to New York over the weekend to urge the Security Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and demand a halt to its bombing campaign in Gaza.