12/20/2023–|Last updated: 12/20/202303:33 PM (Mecca time)
After repeated postponements since Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to adopt a new resolution on Wednesday aimed at improving the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza, but the outcome of the vote remains uncertain given the complexity of the negotiations.
The Security Council faces sharp criticism, as its inability to act has been evident since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. The 15 members of the Council are negotiating a 4-page text, which was submitted by the UAE, looking to enable this UN Council to “speak with one voice.”
Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip in response to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation carried out by Hamas on the Gaza Strip. During the past two months, the Council broke its silence only once, when on November 15, it adopted a resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce.”
Not only that, but it failed to adopt 5 other draft resolutions during the two months, the last of which called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” which Washington dropped by using its veto on December 8.
The current version of the draft resolution
But despite the American veto, the UAE, with the support of the overwhelming majority in the General Assembly for the ceasefire, began a new battle in the Council to “advance a little more” from the November resolution, according to clarifications of its ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.
The current version of the draft resolution calls for “an immediate cessation of hostilities so that humanitarian aid can arrive in a safe and unhindered manner, and that urgent measures be taken to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.”
This current wording shows a lighter tone than the previous version, which called for an “urgent and permanent cessation of hostilities.”
On the other hand, Israel and its American ally oppose the idea of a “ceasefire.”
The wording of the call to stop the fighting has become the focus of divisions in the Council for more than two months, as it varies between “stop,” “truce,” or “ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.” It remains one of the main points in the ongoing negotiations.
The American position
For his part, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced yesterday, Tuesday, that they would stand behind any “decision that supports fully meeting the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, but… the focus remains what is most important.”
“Everyone is waiting to see what decision the United States will take,” said International Crisis Group analyst Richard Gowan. “It seems that American diplomats are also not aware of how this will all end,” noting that the Israelis are pressuring “the White House to use its veto power.”
He added, “In the end, US President Joe Biden and those close to him will have a difficult choice. They must either endure more diplomatic harm by using their veto power again, or bear the risks of publicly showing their disagreement with Israel by allowing the resolution to pass.”
Biden recently announced that Israel is exposing itself to losing the support of the international community due to its “indiscriminate” bombing of the Gaza Strip.
Similar to previous texts rejected by Israel and the United States, the latest draft resolution avoids mentioning Hamas by name, while on the other hand condemning “all indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and “all terrorist acts” and stressing the need to release the hostages.
Expressing concern about the “rapid deterioration” of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, this latest version of the resolution calls on the parties to the conflict to facilitate the entry and distribution of aid in all areas of the Strip “via land, sea and air means of transport” and calls on the UN Secretary-General to establish a mechanism to monitor the provision of aid. .
So far, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have caused the death of 19,667 Palestinians since the beginning of the war, most of them women and children, according to the latest toll announced by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Tuesday.
