The Security Council decides on a call for a ceasefire in Gaza under pressure from Guterres

Published in: 08/12/2023 – 08:55Last updated: 08/12/2023 – 08:53

4 minutes

On Wednesday, Antonio Guterres sent a letter to the Security Council in which he used Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, which allows him to “draw the attention” of the Council to a file that “could endanger international peace and security,” in the first activation of this article in decades.

He wrote in his letter that “with the continuous bombing of Israeli forces, and with the absence of shelters or a minimum level of survival, I expect an imminent complete collapse of public order due to desperate circumstances, which makes it impossible (to provide) humanitarian assistance, even if it is limited,” reiterating his call for A “humanitarian ceasefire” to avoid “irreversible consequences for the Palestinians and for peace and security in the region.”

His spokesman Stephane Dujarric commented, saying, “We hope that the Security Council will take up his call,” noting that the Secretary-General has spoken since Wednesday with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and British Secretary of State David Cameron, and with a number of Arab countries.

In parallel with the devastating bombing campaign launched by Israel in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, which left 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the Israeli authorities, the Hebrew state has launched, since October 27, a large-scale ground attack in the poor and completely besieged Gaza Strip. Which led to the death of 17,177 people, more than 70% of whom were women and children, according to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health.

The sector suffers from a shortage of food, water, fuel, and medicines, while 1.9 million people, or 85% of its population, have been displaced amid destruction and damage that has affected half of its homes.

Following Guterres’s unprecedented message, the United Arab Emirates prepared a draft resolution to be put to a vote in the Security Council on Friday, according to what the Ecuadorian presidency of the Council reported.

Duty to “prevent atrocities”

The draft resolution, in its latest version, seen by AFP, calls for an “immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons” in Gaza, warning of the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”

The brief text also calls for “the protection of civilians,” “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” and “ensuring humanitarian access.”

However, the outcome of the vote is not guaranteed after the Security Council rejected four draft resolutions in the weeks following the outbreak of the war.

The Council finally broke its silence in mid-November by adopting a resolution that called for “truces and humanitarian corridors” in the Gaza Strip, and not for a “ceasefire.”

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, considers that issuing a new Security Council resolution “will not be useful at the current stage,” after it opposed one of the previous draft resolutions and consistently rejected the idea of ​​a ceasefire.

Assistant US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood said Thursday, “Our position has not changed. We believe that the best thing that can be done for all of us… is to let the discreet diplomacy continue behind the scenes. We believe that this is the best hope for trying to improve the situation on the ground and for humanitarian assistance.” and release the hostages.”

For her part, Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard commented in a statement that “international law imposes on the United States and all other member states of the UN Security Council a clear duty to prevent atrocities.”

She continued, “There can be no justification for continuing to obstruct meaningful work in the Council aimed at stopping the bloodshed of civilians, the complete collapse of the humanitarian system, and even worse atrocities that will result from the disintegration of public order and mass displacement movements.”

For his part, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said, “We truly hope that the Security Council will approve this resolution and listen to the courageous and principled position of the Secretary-General.”

On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen condemned Guterres’ move and accused him on Wednesday of posing a “danger to world peace.”

© 2023 AFP