The United States is expected to vote for a Security Council draft resolution that “strongly deplores” Israeli troops for shooting at civilians in the administered territories, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned Monday.
The vote, originally scheduled for Monday night, was postponed at least to Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources here.
The Arabs reportedly have agreed to U.S. requests to meaningfully scale back their original draft resolution condemning the Israeli response to Palestinian rioting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
American diplomatic sources do not comment on impending votes.
The major changes include the softening of the language and the dropping of a request that the United Nations send a special representative to examine the situation in the territories.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has obtained a copy of the draft resolution, which diplomats said may still be changed prior to the vote. As of press time Monday, the major operative parts of the draft resolution were that the Security Council:
“1. Strongly deplores those policies and practices of Israel, the occupying power, which violate the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, in particular the opening of fire by the Israeli army, resulting in the killing and wounding of defenseless Palestinian civilians.
“2.Reaffirms that the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, is applicable to the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem.
“3.Calls once again upon Israel, the occupying power, to abide immediately by the Geneva Convention and to desist forthwith from its policies and practices that are in violation of the provisions of the convention.
“4.Stresses the urgent need to reach a just, durable and peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“5. Requests the secretary general to examine the present situation in the occupied territories by all means available to him, as well as submit a report no later than 20 January 1988 on measures necessary to ensure the safety of and protection of the Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
