The United Nations Security Council overcame weeks of inaction and bickering Wednesday to issue a call for "extended humanitarian pauses" in the Gaza Strip, especially for the protection of children, only to have the Israeli government immediately reject the measure. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardments from the air, sea, and land continue across Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians every day; the majority of them are children and women.
"This draft resolution we have in front of us today seeks to offer hope in this dark hour," said Malta’s Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, who led the negotiations and drafted the text. "It aims to ensure a respite from the current nightmare in Gaza and give hope to the families of all victims. It focuses in particular on the plight of children trapped in the warring enclave and those held hostage."
Resolution 2712 calls for "extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” in Gaza “for a sufficient number of days" to let aid in, repair damage to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, water wells and bakeries, and to enable medical evacuations, especially of children. It also calls for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" held by Hamas and other groups — particularly children.
The Security Council, by additional provisions in the text, calls on all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in Gaza of basic services and aid indispensable to their survival, consistent with international humanitarian law and to allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered access for UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations
On Wednesday, 12 Security Council members voted in favor, none against, while three permanent members abstained: Britain, Russia and the United States. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, but parties named in them frequently ignore them, with little consequence.
It was the council’s fifth attempt at adopting a resolution calling for some form of a cease-fire in the 40-day old war. The previous attempts ended with vetoes and in geopolitical acrimony.
The resolution is brief and stays mostly away from political elements. The text does not refer to Israel by name, or its severe violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, and refers to Hamas only once, in connection to the approximately 240 hostages it and other militant groups are holding in Gaza.
Russia proposed an amendment to the draft adding language adopted in the General Assembly resolution calling "for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities." But the Council rejected the amendment, with five votes in favor, one against (United States), and nine abstentions.
The United Arab Emirates represents the Arab regional bloc on the Council. Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said she believes the new resolution can save lives.
"However, I want to emphasize that the adoption of today’s resolution only begins our response to this war and to this crisis," she told her colleagues. "Too much time has passed, too many people have been killed, and too much destruction has been wrought."
Israel’s envoy told the council that his government does not need a resolution to remind it to adhere to international law. He also said that the text focuses solely on the humanitarian situation.
“It makes no mention of what led up to this moment,” he said.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN, said the Security Council should have called a ceasefire by now and been convinced that there is no military solution.
The Council "should have heeded the call by the UN and every humanitarian organization on Earth calling for a humanitarian ceasefire,” Mansour said. “It should have at least echoed the call of the General Assembly for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.”
What was happening would have long term effects that no one should underestimate, he said.
“It is a failure of humanity of terrifying magnitude,” he said. “But for now, the urgency is to save lives. Stop the killing, stop the forced displacement, allow humanitarian aid in and ensure humanitarian access, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
After the Council failed several times to take action last month, the UN General Assembly stepped in and adopted its own resolution calling for a humanitarian truce. Proposed by Arab states, the resolution adopted on October 27, called for an immediate halt to the fighting for the safe provision of aid to Gaza and for the release of all civilians who are being held captive. But the assembly’s resolutions are not legally binding, and Israel began its ground war as the vote was being tallied.
The GA resolution also demanded “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped inside the Gaza Strip. The world body approved the resolution by an overwhelming majority of 120 to 14 votes, with 45 abstentions.
Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 27,000 since October 7. While two thirds of the fatalities are reportedly children and women, the dead include more than 4,600 children and at least 667 elderly persons.
However, it is feared that there are several hundred more dead and injured, as the de facto Gaza authorities have not updated the casualty figures since November 10. Among those killed are at least 103 UN staff, 198 health workers and 51 journalists. More than 2,700 people - including 1,500 children - have been reported missing and may be still trapped dead or alive under the rubble.
More than a month ago, the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip drastically deteriorated following attacks by the Israeli military due to atrocities committed by Palestinian armed groups in Israel, that killed over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals. The increasing escalation of violence and the complete blockade imposed on Gaza by the Israeli government has led to a humanitarian catastrophe for the people of the tiny enclave.
Almost 1.6 million people – more than two thirds of the total population of Gaza - have been displaced due to the attacks by the Israeli military or an Israeli evacuation order. More than 810,000 civilians are sheltering in 154 UN installations in increasingly dire conditions.
In the north of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of people who are unable or unwilling to move to the south remain amid intense hostilities. They are struggling to secure the minimum amount of water and food for survival.
On Wednesday, Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued a statement, unveiling a 10-point plan “to rein in the carnage” in Gaza.
“As the carnage in Gaza reaches new levels of horror every day, the world continues to watch in shock as hospitals come under fire, premature babies die, and an entire population is deprived of the basic means of survival. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.
In the statement, Griffiths said the warring parties must respect international humanitarian law, agree to a humanitarian ceasefire and stop the fighting. Among other steps, he called on the parties and for those with influence over them to facilitate aid agencies’ efforts to bring in a continuous flow of aid convoys and to do so safely.
He also called on the parties to open additional crossing points for aid and commercial trucks to enter, including through Kerem Shalom; and allow the UN and other humanitarian organizations and public and private sector entities to access fuel in sufficient quantities to deliver aid and provide basic services; and to enable humanitarian organizations to deliver aid throughout Gaza without impediment or interference.
Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said Wednesday that UNRWA received the same day over 23,000 liters of fuel for the besieged Gaza Strip. But Israeli authorities have restricted the use of this fuel, he said.
“This fuel cannot be used for the overall humanitarian response, including for medical and water facilities or the work of UNRWA,” Lazzarini said.
“It is appalling that fuel continues to be used as a weapon of war. For the past five weeks, UNRWA has been pleading to get fuel in support of the humanitarian operation in Gaza. This seriously paralyses our work and the delivery of assistance to the Palestinian communities in Gaza."
The Israeli authorities, according to UNRWA, have indicated that they would allow the entry of a limited amount of fuel into Gaza, to be used exclusively to run trucks for the distribution of incoming humanitarian aid.
“By the end of today, around 70 percent of people in Gaza will not have clean water. Key services including water desalination plants, sewage treatments and hospitals have ceased to operate. Much more fuel is needed," the Commissioner General said, adding that UNRWA needs more than 160,000 liters of fuel per day to run its operations.
“I call on the Israeli Authorities to immediately authorize the delivery of the needed amount of fuel as is required under international humanitarian law.”
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: UN Security Council Resolution 2712 (2023)
http://undocs.org/en/S/RES/2712(2023)
Full text: The carnage in Gaza cannot be allowed to continue. Here are the steps to rein it in, Statement by Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, released November 15, 2023
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/carnage-gaza-cannot-be-allowed-continue-here-are-steps-rein-it
Full text: Gaza continues to have huge needs for fuel amid siege and war, UNRW statement, released November 15, 2023
https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/gaza-continues-have-huge-needs-fuel-amid-siege-and-war