The “General Assembly” will vote on an “immediate ceasefire” project in Gaza… and a new project in the Security Council
General assembly
On behalf of the Arab group, the Jordanian delegate, Mahmoud Al-Hamoud, presented the text of the resolution, which specifically calls for an “immediate ceasefire” and the “unhindered” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Palestinian delegate Riyad Mansour announced on Wednesday that the 193 member states of the General Assembly will vote on this text “on Friday afternoon, and we hope to be able to allow the General Assembly to work while the Security Council is paralyzed.”
Security Council
This came after the Security Council once again failed to address the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, rejecting two draft resolutions, one American and the other Russian, despite being the strongest UN body charged with maintaining international peace and security.
The resolution prepared by the United States, Israel’s closest ally, underlines Israel’s right to self-defense in the face of “terrorist attacks” by Hamas and calls for the release of all hostages “immediately and unconditionally” and urges compliance with international laws. It calls for “working to reach a humanitarian truce” to provide aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
On Wednesday evening, Russia and China exercised their veto power against the proposed US project, knowing that it received support from ten countries, and the United Arab Emirates also rejected it, while Brazil and Mozambique abstained from the vote.
As for the Russian draft resolution, also put to the vote, it calls for an “immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons” and unequivocally condemns the attacks of 7 October and the “indiscriminate attacks” against civilians and civilian objects in Gaza.
This decision was not adopted; Because it received support from only four countries: Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Gabon, while the United States and Great Britain opposed it and nine countries abstained from voting. Any resolution requires at least nine yes votes, with no veto from any of the five permanent members.
The failure of these two resolutions came after the Security Council last week also rejected a Russian draft resolution that did not mention “Hamas” by name, and the failure of a Brazilian draft resolution that had the support of 12 countries, but which the United States vetoed. The Brazilian project would have condemned Hamas attacks and all acts of violence against civilians and would have called for a “humanitarian truce”.
A “license” to attack
Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, justified the use of the veto by saying that the American draft resolution “represents a license from the Security Council to continue the Israeli attack and cannot be approved.” Because the Council will completely lose its credibility,” he said, adding that the United States “does not want Security Council resolutions to influence the Israeli process.” He added that “violations of international humanitarian law threaten to expand the conflict in the Middle East and perhaps beyond,” and strongly criticized “petty and selfish interests (that) have prevented a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip from being stopped.”
Chinese delegate Zhang Jun said: “The draft resolution does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting, and does not help resolve the issue.” Right now, ceasefire is not just a diplomatic term. “It means the life and death of many civilians.” He described the American project as “highly unbalanced, mixing good and evil.”
The American “disappointment”.
As for her American counterpart, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, she described Russia and China’s use of the “veto” as disappointing. You said: The draft resolution prepared by your country calls for “a rapid expansion of aid” to respond to the “terrible and urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza.” She added that the text also affirms “the right of all countries to self-defense” and calls for “humanitarian truces.” She also said: “We listened to you all. “Although (Wednesday’s) vote is a setback, it should not discourage us.” Russia was accused of preparing a draft resolution in “bad faith”, claiming that it “aims to divide the Council more than to satisfy the needs of Israelis and Palestinians”.
British delegate Barbara Woodward justified her vote against the Russian text by stating that it “once again fails to recognize Israel’s right to defend itself.”
French attempt
These deep divisions in the Security Council have caused frustration among a number of diplomats. One of them said: France tried in vain to convince Russia and the United States to withdraw their texts before putting them to the vote.
Emirati delegate Lana Nusseibeh said: The United Nations and humanitarian organizations have made it clear that what is needed is a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, the release of all hostages and the sustainability of humanitarian aid access to Gaza. She underlined the importance of the Council giving “the same value to Palestinian life as to Israeli life”, adding that “we cannot allow any ambiguity on this point”.
On the other hand, Israeli delegate Gilad Erdan thanked the United States and other countries for supporting the American resolution to denounce the “savage genocidal terrorists”, denouncing those who voted against the resolution because they showed the world that the Council of Security is unable to condemn “terrorists” and cannot assert the rights of the victims of these heinous crimes in self-defense.
A “central” decision.
Having failed the American and Russian projects, on Wednesday evening the Maltese delegate to the United Nations, Vanessa Fraser, announced, on behalf of the ten non-permanent members of the Security Council, that these countries will work to propose a new draft resolution. You told Council members: “By being elected members of this Council, we also represent the rest of the international community and we have a duty and obligation to act.” She added: “There is no room to waste time.” You warned that “this crisis is also accompanied by a growing risk that it will spread regionally.” “This requires our full attention.”