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UN Double Standard: UN Blasts Congo Rebels–Voices “Deep Concern” About Gaza
U.N. attack helicopters targeted M23 rebels in eastern Congo on Saturday after fighting resumed following a monthslong lull in violence, a local official said.
Two army officers and 151 rebels were killed in a battle beginning Thursday that the U.N. called the worst clash between the M23 group and the military since July. Attack helicopters for the U.N. mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, had been on standby.
“MONUSCO helicopters this morning bombarded the M23 positions in the city of Kibumba,” said North Kivu governor Julien Paluku. He said the Congolese army had earlier retreated from Kibumba, which is 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Goma, after thousands of Rwandans, who he says were backing the rebels, attacked early Saturday. READMOREHERE
The United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees today voiced its deep concern over the escalation of violence in Gaza, noting that it puts civilians there and in Israel at risk.
“We support the calls of the Secretary-General for an immediate de-escalation of tensions and his demand that both sides should do everything to avoid further escalation and must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians at all times,” the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) added in a news release.
In addition to calling for an immediate de-escalation earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned attacks by Palestinian militants targeting Israel and called on Israel to exercise maximum restraint.
The new wave of violence in Gaza and southern Israel has resulted in several people being killed or wounded on both sides.
UNRWA has over one million beneficiaries in Gaza, where, earlier Thursday, one of its staff members was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the north. READMOREHERE
