UN Chief Urges Israeli Government to Restrain Military

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 07, 2002

UN Chief Urges Israeli Government to Restrain Military

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Reacting to a deadly Israeli raid in Gaza which left 10 people dead, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged the Israeli government to restrain its military and act in accord with international humanitarian law.

A spokesman for Annan said the UN chief is "gravely disturbed by the Israeli military attack in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip."

Most of the 10 Palestinians killed in the raid were civilians, including two staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), both victims were working for the agency's education projects, according to the spokesman Fred Eckhard.

"The secretary-general deplores the loss of innocent civilian life," he said, recalling Annan's repeated calls on Israel to refrain from the excessive and disproportionate use of deadly force in civilian areas.

The spokesman added that Annan "wishes to remind the Governmentof Israel of its obligations as an occupying power to protect the civilian population, and urges them ensure that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) behave with greater restraint and discipline and in conformity with international humanitarian law."

The UN chief once again stressed that "only a political solution offers the two parties a viable way out of the current conflict and the possibility of real security for both sides," Eckhard said.

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