Global Policy Forum

Israel was roundly criticized in the U.N. Security Council late on Wednesday for its deadly strike on Gaza City, with nation after nation saying the attack was unreasonable, unacceptable and unwarranted.

Saudi Arabia, the current chairman of the Arab group at the United Nations, called for the emergency council meeting, with more than 35 speakers, to condemn the Tuesday raid that killed a wanted Hamas leader and 14 others, including nine children.

Arab ambassadors, who were fierce in their denunciation, want the 15-member council to adopt a resolution demanding the "withdrawal of the Israeli occupying forces from Palestinian cities."

U.S. officials said Washington, Israel's closest ally, would oppose the draft if put to a vote. But Western diplomats said revisions of the document might yet result in adoption before the end of the week.

However, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said past council resolutions formed a "more than adequate basis to guide efforts to achieve a negotiated solution" and the world should focus on "constructive diplomatic efforts."

Israel's deputy ambassador, Aaron Jacob, expressed regret at the deaths but said the action was precipitated by the failure of the Palestinian Authority to stop "one of the most prolific and brutal terrorists," Salah Shehada, the target of the attack.

"Had we known the result beforehand, we would never have carried out the operation. Our regret is sincere and profound," he said.

But Palestinian U.N. observer, Nasser al-Kidwa said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his "lieutenants" should be tried for war crimes. The world needed to stop Israel actions whether on the ground or in the political sphere, he said.

He said Sharon used every excuse to avoid a genuine peace settlement "so that the occupation and the colonization and settlement activities could continue."

Syrian Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe, holding up pictures of wounded children, said Israel had committed "massacres" against Palestinians almost since its inception. Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fadaifard spoke of "racist" and "vicious measures" against defenseless Palestinians.

SUICIDE BOMBINGS "LEGITIMATE"

And Iraq's Abdul Munim al-Kadhe, the only speaker to never use the word "Israel," bluntly declared that that suicide bombers against Israeli civilians were "a legitimate right, a way to achieve emancipation and legitimate self-defense against the Zionist military machine."

He said the "worldwide Zionist movement" was characterized by "racism ... deriving from Nazism and so forth."

Europeans also said the raid was unreasonable and risked squashing all peace efforts. Irish Ambassador John Ryan said an attack of this sort was bound to cause casualties. "To suggest anything otherwise is disingenuous."

British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, called the bomb dropped in Gaza City "unacceptable and harmful." Israel had a right to protect itself but not through excessive acts.

And Indian Ambassador V.K. Nambiar told the council: "Even while we have noted the statement by Israel that this was a mistake, we cannot but strongly deplore such acts of unwarranted violence and indiscriminate killings at a time when serious efforts are afoot to broker a cease-fire."

Reiterating President Bush's goal of two states living side by side in peace within secure borders within three years, Negroponte said the council also had to address the action of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other "Palestinian terrorist groups."

"We should question why they are not more often a focus of council attention," he said.