The draft resolution urges Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah.”
Algeria is circulating a draft resolution at the UN Security Council to “stop the killing” in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, amid intensified Israeli attacks on the densely populated area.
“Algeria will circulate this afternoon a draft resolution on Rafah. It will be a short, decisive text, aimed at stopping the killing in Rafah,” said Algeria’s Ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, following a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
The draft resolution urges Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah.”
It also reportedly calls for an immediate ceasefire and the “immediate and unconditional” release of all captives.
The draft resolution also demands the “full implementation” of previous UN Security Council resolutions, such as a November 1, 2023 resolution calling for “extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” in Gaza; a December 22, 2023 resolution calling for “safe, unhindered and expanded” humanitarian access to Gaza; and a March 25, 2024 resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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Additionally, the draft resolution expresses “grave concern” over the dire humanitarian situation, with famine spreading throughout the Gaza Strip, and condemns the “indiscriminate targeting” of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The US has previously vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions calling for a cease-ire in Gaza since October 7. It referred to the March 25 ceasefire resolution, adopted with a US abstention, as “non-binding.”
At Algeria’s Request
The UNSC convened an urgent closed-door session on Tuesday to address the situation in Rafah, at Algeria’s request.
According to Algeria’s state-run news agency, the request was made in response to the “dangerous developments” in Gaza following Israel’s attack on a displaced persons camp in Rafah on Sunday, which killed at least 50 Palestinians and injured many more.
This attack occurred despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to cease its offensive in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the Israel-Hamas conflict before the invasion on May 6.
Israeli forces carried out two more massacres in Rafah, killing and wounding scores of Palestinians, mostly children and women.
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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, 36,171 Palestinians have been killed, and 81,420 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.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
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The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly 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’.
(PC, Anadolu)
