Watered-down UN resolution to allow aid to reach Gaza

THE UN Security Council has backed a watered-down resolution calling on Israel and Hamas to allow the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.

After days of negotiations, the council voted 13-0 in favour, with Russia and the US abstaining.

The resolution, sponsored by the United Arab Emirates, stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

However, it demanded all sides “allow and facilitate the use of all ... routes to and throughout the entire Gaza Strip, including border crossings... for the provision of humanitarian assistance.”

With the death toll rising, the 15-member council had been struggling to find language it could agree on.

Earlier this month, the US, Israel’s closest ally, vetoed another UAEsponsored resolution that called for a ceasefire. Britain abstained in the vote.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister has insisted there will be no ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas, which killed about 1,400 people on Oct 7, is eliminated.

International pressure for another pause in the fighting has been growing after weeks of a sustained ground and air campaign by Israel.

Hamas says the bombardment of Gaza has killed 20,057 people, 8,000 of them children.

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has warned that Gaza faced a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

The resolution is the result of days of negotiation involving Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and his counterparts such as Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary.

The words “urgent suspension of hostilities” – a key change – were dropped from the text.

Instead, it called “for urgent steps to immediately allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and also for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”

Other changes handed over responsibility for monitoring aid deliveries to a UN-appointed humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator, rather than the UN itself.

Lord Cameron said: “As well as the need for expanded humanitarian access, the UN resolution today demands the immediate and unconditional release of hostages. This is vital.”