The United States on Friday vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, despite pressure from the secretary general who denounced the “collective punishment” inflicted on the Palestinians.
The draft resolution which received 13 votes in favor, one against (United States) and one abstention (United Kingdom) was prepared by the United Arab Emirates after the unprecedented invocation by Antonio Guterres on Wednesday of article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations allowing the Secretary-General to draw the attention of the Council to a matter which “could endanger the maintenance of international peace and security“.
But the Americans, allies of Israel, repeated their hostility to a ceasefire on Friday.
The draft resolution, emphasizing the “catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip“, demanded”an immediate humanitarian ceasefire“. The very short text also called for the protection of civilians, the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages and “ensuring humanitarian access”.
Putting pressure on the members of the Council, Antonio Guterres on Friday morning justified its invocation of article 99 by once again emphasizing the risk of “total collapse of public order” in the Gaza Strip.
“I condemn without reservation“the Hamas attacks of October 7, but”the violence perpetrated by Hamas cannot in any way justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people“, did he declare.
After the unprecedented attack against Israel carried out on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which according to Israeli authorities caused approximately 1,200 dead, predominantly civilians, Israel imposed a “complete siege” and massively shelled the Gaza Strip, reducing large areas to ruins.
“Apocalyptic” situation in Gaza
“Those who survived the bombings are now at imminent risk of death from starvation and disease“: Save the children and other international NGOs warn of the “apocalyptic” situation in the Gaza Strip.
Food, water, fuel and medicines only enter in dribs and drabs, while approximately 1.9 million people, or 85% of the population, had to leave their homes according to the UN since the start of hostilities, which more than 17,000 dead according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, This is the fifth draft resolution rejected by the Council, which has been largely divided for years on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Since the start of the war, The Security Council managed to pass a resolution that called for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in Gaza, but not a “ceasefire“.
Security Council inaction makes it “complicit in massacre” in Gaza Strip, said Friday Doctors Without Borders.
Fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip
Fierce fighting continued on Friday from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, notably in Khan Younesthe main city in the south, where the Israeli army announced that it had taken up position in the center and was advancing “from house to house”, tracking down fighters of the Islamist movement.
“We took up position in the center of the city. We work methodically, with precision, we move from tunnel to tunnel, from house to house, and we hit terrorists as precisely as possible” said Gen. Dan Goldfus, commander of the 98th Division, in a video message released by the Army.
Soldiers discovered an arms depot in a school, a Hamas command post in a mosque, where “terrorists” were killed, as well as weapons “in the homes of important Hamas cadres”, according to a statement of the Army.
After a first phase of its ground offensive in the north of the territory, in parallel with its campaign of massive air strikes launched on October 7, the army this week extended its ground operations to the south, where hundreds took refuge. thousands of civilians now trapped.
The population, faced with a disastrous humanitarian situation, is forced to move within an increasingly cramped area to Rafah, along the closed border with Egypt, where thousands of people try to shelter in makeshift camps.
Failed operation to free hostages
The Israeli army, on the other hand, recognized on Friday the failure of an operation aimed at freeing hostages in the Gaza Strip, in which two soldiers were injured. A hostage died during this operation, according to Hamas.
Six Palestinians killed in West Bank
Israeli forces killed six Palestinians on Friday, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry, in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian territory plagued by an intensification of violence since the start of the war.
ADVERTISEMENTRegional tensions
Four pro-Hezbollah fighters (Lebanese pro-Iran movement allied with Hamas) were killed Friday in an Israeli drone strike in southern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said.
