Israel was criticised in the United Nations Security Council yesterday for its strike on Gaza City, with nation after nation saying the attack was unreasonable, unacceptable and unwarranted.
The meeting was held at the request of Saudi Arabia and Arab ambassadors, who were fierce in their denunciation, and wanted the 15-member council to adopt a resolution demanding the "withdrawal of the Israeli occupying forces from Palestinian cities".
US 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.
The raid, late on Monday, killed a wanted Hamas leader. But 14 other people, including nine children, were also killed and scores more were wounded when a guided missile hit an apartment block.
Israel's deputy ambassador, Mr 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 the Palestinian UN observer, Mr Nasser al-Kidwa, said Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon and his "lieutenants" should be tried for war crimes. The world needed to stop Israeli actions whether on the ground or in the political sphere, he said.
He said Mr Sharon used every excuse to avoid a genuine peace settlement "so that the occupation and the colonisation and settlement activities could continue".
Ireland's Ambassador, Mr Richard Ryan, described the attack as an "act of gross brutality and disregard for human life".
While acknowledging Israel's right to self-defence and reiterating condemnation of attacks on Israeli civilians, Mr Ryan said, the attack "was not a measured or proportionate response to the threat of terrorism."
"The use of air-launched, high calibre missiles in densely populated areas can only result in large-scale civilian casualties," he said. "To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. The political and military leadership [of Israel\] that decided upon \ action in Gaza are fully familiar both with the destructive capacity of the ordnance used and the high density of civilian habitation in the precise location that was targeted."
Extending Ireland's sympathies to the bereaved, the ambassador insisted that "there is no military solution to this conflict" and urged a renewed commitment to dialogue.
"There must in our view be parallel progress on the political, security, humanitarian and institution- building tracks. This progress must lead to a two-state solution through the establishment of a Palestinian state," said Mr Ryan.
The Syrian Ambassador, Mr 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 defenceless Palestinians.
And Iraq's Mr 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-defence against the Zionist military machine". He said the "worldwide Zionist movement" was characterised by "racism . . . deriving from Nazism".
Europeans also said the raid was unreasonable and risked squashing all peace efforts. 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, the US Ambassador, Mr John 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.