Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuter
After days of rocket fire between Gaza’s Hamas militants and Israeli military forces, the United Nations Security Council called Saturday for a cease-fire. A statement from the council, which was approved by all 15 members, calls for a de-escalation of violence, restoration of calm and a resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine to achieve comprehensive peace based on a two-state solution. The statement does not give a time frame for when the cease-fire should take effect, though Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said that Palestinians' understanding is that it should go into effect immediately. He warned, however, that Palestinians will be watching Israel closely to see if it adheres to the U.N.’s call. If it does not, he said, “we have a lot of tools in our arsenal.” The Palestinian death count in the conflict rose Saturday to above 125.