On Friday, a United Nations Security Council resolution called on the Secretary-General to appoint a special aid coordinator to help the besieged Palestinians in Gaza, and to establish a mechanism to accelerate the delivery of aid, in consultation with all parties concerned.
The resolution does not provide for a “ceasefire,” and instead calls on the warring parties to “allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance” to civilians in Gaza and “create conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
This decision was negotiated “carefully” to avoid objections from the United States, which sided with Israel in opposition to a previous resolution demanding that Israel agree to a complete ceasefire, according to the newspaper.The New York Times“.
Its impact on the ground remains in question, as the aid entering the Gaza Strip in limited quantities does not compare to the growing needs of its population of 2.4 million people, the vast majority of whom have been displaced in light of war and destruction.
As the war continues unabated, it remains unclear when a special aid coordinator for Gaza will be appointed and how successful this official’s efforts will be. Aid organizations said that without a complete cessation of fighting, it would be nearly impossible to distribute enough aid in Gaza.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday denounced the “major obstacles” to the distribution of aid as a result of the way Israel is carrying out its “attack” in Gaza, stressing that a ceasefire “is the only way to meet the dire needs of the population in Gaza and put an end to their ongoing nightmare.”
The decision also did not immediately resolve any of the impasse that restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, including the strict inspection regime imposed by the Israeli authorities, who say they want to prevent the entry of weapons or other goods that might benefit Hamas’ military operations.
Israeli officials said after the vote that they would continue to inspect all goods entering Gaza, a process that UN officials and aid agencies criticized as cumbersome and slow.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said after the vote: “The resolution preserves Israel’s security authority to monitor and inspect aid entering Gaza.”
Egypt, whose Rafah border crossing with Gaza is the main entry point for aid, described the decision as “an important positive step towards alleviating the human suffering affecting Palestinian civilians.”
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also considered, in a statement, that this measure is “insufficient” because it does not demand an immediate ceasefire, which the ministry said is “the only way to stop the bloodshed in Gaza.”
The war broke out following an unprecedented attack in terms of scope and intensity carried out by Hamas fighters after they stormed the border between Gaza and southern Israel. It led to the killing of about 1,140 Israelis and the kidnapping of 250 people, 129 of whom are still detained in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hebrew state authorities.
The Israeli retaliatory bombardment, with thousands of bombs by land, sea and air, led to the deaths of 20,258 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, and the injury of more than 53,000 others, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Last week, after great international pressure, Israel opened the main Kerem Shalom crossing for transporting goods to Gaza, and began allowing aid to enter through it for the first time since the start of the war.
Most of the fuel and commercial goods in Gaza came from Israel before the war, but Israel closed its crossings with Gaza after the October 7 attack.
Aid trucks had to travel from Egypt to the Kerem Shalom crossing for inspection by the Israeli army, and then return to Egypt to enter Gaza from there, slowing down and complicating the process.
In light of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stressed that “the most urgent request is an immediate ceasefire.”
He pointed out that the Strip, which has an area of 362 square kilometers and where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in temporary camps, is greatly threatened by “hunger, famine, and the spread of diseases.”
In turn, the Director of UNRWA in Gaza, Thomas White, said on the
#resolution #aid #Gaza #steps #unclear
2023-12-24 05:16:02
