The United Nations Security Council adopted on Monday a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as the United Nations refrained from using its veto power for the first time, after 171 days of war.
The resolution, which was presented by non-permanent members of the Security Council, “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a sustainable lasting ceasefire.
It also “demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, stressing the urgent need to increase aid and demanding the removal of all obstacles to its delivery.”
The resolution, which was written by the ten elected members to the council and was proposed in the council by Mozambique’s representative, passed with 14 votes in favor and the US abstaining.
Before the vote, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had slammed as “unacceptable” the fact that the word “permanent” was replaced with weaker language.
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“We all received instructions for a vote on the text that contained the word ‘permanent’” and anything else could be seen as permission for Israel to continue its attacks, he said. Russian verbal amendment, however, did not pass due lack of votes.
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the UN, Zhang Jun, said that “the current draft is unequivocal and correct in its direction demanding an immediate ceasefire, while the previous one was evasive and ambiguous”.
The Chinese representative blamed the US for obstructing previous attempts at passing a ceasefire resolution.
“For the lives that have already perished, the Council resolution today comes too late”, he said.
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Speaking after the vote, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the US “did not agree with everything with the resolution”.
“Certain key edits were ignored, including our request to add a condemnation of Hamas,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Previous Attempts
Today’s vote followed several attempts by the UNSC at brokering a ceasefire resolution.
Last Friday, Russia and China vetoed a US draft UN Security Council resolution which conditioned the ceasefire in Gaza to “immediate” release of all “remaining hostages” currently held in Gaza.
Russia’s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the US was trying to “sell a product” to the UNSC by using the term “imperative” without demanding a ceasefire.
“We have observed a typical hypocritical spectacle,” he said.
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Nebenzia added that “there was no call for a ceasefire in the text, accusing US leadership of ‘deliberately misleading the international community’,” the report added.
For his part, China’s envoy Zhang Jun said that the Council should call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, adding that too much time has been wasted in this regard.
Beijing’s representative also said that China will support a new draft resolution that is already circulating and that “is clear on the issue of a ceasefire and is in line with the correct direction of the Council action and is of great relevance.”
Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza last October 7, Washington has used its veto power against three draft resolutions, two of which called for an immediate ceasefire.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 32,333 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,694 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Gaza Genocide – UN Security Council Set to Vote on Ceasefire
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(The Palestine Chronicle)
