The UN Security Council once again postponed voting on a draft resolution that calls in its latest version for a “suspension” of hostilities in Gaza and allowing humanitarian aid to reach the Strip.
The Council was scheduled to vote on the draft resolution on Monday, but the vote was postponed to Tuesday morning, then to the evening, and then to Wednesday, according to what Agence France-Presse reported from diplomatic sources, in order to make room for continuing negotiations and avoid another blockage in the wake of the American veto.
On December 8, the United States used its veto to prevent the adoption of a resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, despite the great and unprecedented efforts made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
But the United Nations General Assembly adopted the same resolution last week, with a majority of 153 votes in favor, 10 against, and 23 abstentions, out of 193 member states.
After this broad support, the UAE submitted the current draft resolution to the Security Council, and the first version of it called for “an urgent and permanent cessation of hostilities to allow unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”
But the new draft calls – according to Agence France-Presse – for “an urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent measures to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.”
Since the Palestinian resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that, as of Tuesday evening, left 19,667 martyrs and 52,586 wounded, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip.
Since the beginning of the war, the Security Council has failed to adopt 4 draft resolutions to alleviate the suffering in Gaza, and then in mid-November it adopted a resolution calling for “truces and corridors for humanitarian aid.”
On December 6, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, used – for the first time since taking office – Article 99 of the organization’s founding charter to warn members of the Security Council that the war in Gaza may fuel threats to international peace and security.