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Argentina urges immediate ceasefire in Gaza

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-14 10:50

BUENOS AIRES -- Argentina on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli raids have killed over 950 Palestinians and injured 5,000, many of them civilians.

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Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana made the call in a meeting here with the Palestinian ambassador to Argentina, Farid Suwwan.

"Argentina reaffirms one more time the call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as has been demanded by the United Nations (UN)," Taiana said.

"The international community must insist on the fulfillment of Resolution 1860 of the UN Security Council, which is about finding a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Taiana said.

Taiana met with Suwwan to discuss Argentina's shipping of humanitarian aid to Palestinian victims of the Israeli attacks, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said.

The aid will include blankets, medicine, milk powder, staple food and health goods.

The Argentine envoy to the United Nations, Jorge Arguello, also called for a ceasefire in Gaza last week.

Both Hamas and Israel have defied last week's UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, with Tuesday marking the 18th day of the bloody clashes.

Israel, which has suffered 13 deaths, says its offensive against Gaza is in retaliation against rocket attacks by Hamas militants.