UN body to consider call for halt to arm sales to Israel
US envoy warns Iran not to attack Americans over Damascus strike
The UN Human Rights Council on Friday is set to consider a draft resolution calling for a cessation of arms sales to Israel, nearly six months into the war in Gaza.
If the text is adopted, it would mark the first time that the UN’s top rights body has taken a position on the bloodiest-ever Gaza war.
The draft resolution circulated on Wednesday condemns the “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza” and demands Israel “uphold its legal responsibility to prevent genocide.” The draft resolution was brought forward by Pakistan on behalf of 55 of the 56 UN member states in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation — the exception being Albania. The text is co-sponsored by Bolivia, Cuba and the Palestinian mission in Geneva.
The draft demands Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territory and “immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment”. It “calls upon all states to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel ... in order to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights.” Meanwhile, the US has warned Iran not to retaliate against it for an attack on Iran’s mission compound in Syria, telling the UN Security Council it had no prior warning of the strike that Tehran has blamed on Washington’s ally Israel. US representative to the UN Robert Wood reiterated that Washington has communicated to Iran that it “had no involvement” in the strike on the consulate, nor did it have any knowledge of it ahead of time. Wood said that since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, the US has repeatedly warned Iran not to take advantage of the situation by escalating its “longstanding proxy war against Israel and other actors,” but Iran has ignored that warning. He warned that US authorities “will not hesitate to defend our personnel, and repeat our prior warnings to Iran and its proxies not to take advantage of this situation to resume their attacks on US personnel.” Tehran’s deputy representative to the UN, Zahra Ershadi, said: “Iran has exercised considerable restraint but there are limits to our forbearance.”
Celebrity chef Jose Andres said that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them “systematically, car by car.”
Andres said the World Central Kitchen charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers’ movements. Separately, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said her country would consider recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state “when the moment comes.”