UN Security Council calls for Gaza cease-fire for first time
UNITED NATIONS — Almost six months into the Gaza war, the UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution for the first time calling for an “immediate cease-fire” for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The most powerful body of the United Nations expressed “deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”
It is also demanding the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” held by the militant Palestinian Hamas organization.
The United States, which holds veto power, abstained from the vote on Monday, thereby enabling the resolution to be adopted. The 14 other members of the committee voted in favour.
The resolution, which is binding under international law, further increases international pressure on the parties to the conflict, Israel and Hamas.
However, it is unclear to what extent the resolution will have any influence on decisions made by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas regarding the course of the war.
Netanyahu reacted to the vote by cancelling a planned Israeli delegation to the United States, his office said on Monday. He had earlier threatened to cancel the trip if the US did not block the resolution.
Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and national security advisor, Zachi Hanegbi, were supposed to fly to the US on Monday to meet with high-ranking US government officials.
The US planned to present the Israelis with alternatives to an Israeli military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is packing with hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled airstrikes and fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden and other Israeli allies have warned against an attack on Rafah, but Netanyahu has so far pledged to push forward with the offensive regardless of international condemnation.
According to estimates,
1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants have sought refuge from the fighting there, with many of them living in temporary shelters.
Another topic of the talks would have been Washington’s proposals for an expansion of humanitarian aid for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip.
Previous efforts to have the UN Security Council call for a cease-fire had failed, mainly due to the resistance of the US veto power.
As Israel’s closest ally, Washington has opposed a cease-fire since the start of the war in October last year and has vetoed three other resolutions. At best, US representatives called for shorter cease-fires.
Due to the rising number of civilian casualties and the threat of famine in parts of the sealed-off coastal strip, the US has recently stepped up the pressure on Israel.
On Friday, Washington made a U-turn and for the first time called for
“an immediate and lasting cease-fire” in the Gaza war in a resolution. However, Russia and China vetoed the resolution.
German Foreing Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is currently visiting Israel and has repeatedly spoken out in favour of a cease-fire and against an assault on Rafah, welcomed the UN vote on Monday.
Baerbock said during her visit to Jerusalem that she was “relieved about the adoption of the resolution, because every day counts,” both for Gazans facing starvation and Israeli hostages still being held captive by Hamas.
European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen also welcomed the resolution saying its implementation was “vital for the protection of all civilians” in Gaza, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
European Council President Charles Michel also said “it is now urgent” for the cease-fire in Gaza to be upheld and all Hamas hostages to be released.
The concise resolution text that has now been adopted focuses on the demand for “an immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting and sustainable cease-fire.”
Aid supplies for the civilian population must also be expanded. The resolution was introduced by non-permanent members of the UN body.
It called for and “urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance ... in line with international humanitarian law.”
On Sunday, the head of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, reported that no aid deliveries were getting through to the northern Gaza Strip, despite urgent warnings of famine.
Israel has rejected accusations it is hindering aid deliveries into Gaza, instead accusing aid organizations of not distributing them properly, while the groups say they are lacking proper protection.
A resolution in the UN Security Council requires the votes of at least 9 of the 15 member states.
In addition, there must be no veto from the permanent members US, Russia, China, France or Britain.
If an affected state ignores Security Council resolutions, the body can impose sanctions, but that is considered unlikely in the case of Israel due to the US veto power.