UN Security Council Voting On Ceasefire As Israel-Hamas Clashes Intensify
By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos
NEW YORK/GAZA/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Under pressure from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, the United Nations Security Council was to vote Friday on urging an immediate ceasefire in the weeks-long Israel-Hamas war.
In a historic move, Guterres invoked the U.N. charter’s Article 99, which states that the secretary-general may bring to the council’s attention “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
No one in his role had done this in decades.
Guterres wrote: “Amid constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.”
After Guterres sent his urgent letter, the United Arab Emirates prepared a draft resolution that will be put to a vote on Friday, said the delegation from Ecuador, which chairs the council this month.
The latest version of this document reportedly calls the humanitarian situation in Gaza “catastrophic” and “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
The short text also calls for the protection of civilians, the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages Hamas is still holding, and humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.
OUTCOME UNCERTAIN
But the outcome of a vote is not clear – the security council rejected four earlier drafts presented since the war broke out.
The United States, Israel’s most powerful ally, which vetoed one of the earlier draft resolutions and rejected the idea of a ceasefire, has said a new resolution from the council at this stage would not be “useful.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday said Guterres’ tenure was “a danger to world peace” after he invoked Article 99.
The developments came as the United Nations humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths. suggested there is no safe place left for aid agencies in the Gaza Strip.
Griffiths said the U.N. had a plan of “humanitarian opportunism,” getting aid when and where they can.
He spoke as tens of thousands of Palestinians fled to Rafah near the border with Egypt as intense fighting continued in and around Khan Younis city, witnesses said.
Israel pledged to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the next few days to allow aid into Gaza, which it closed since the October 7 Hamas attacks killed about 1,200 people in Israel.
SOCIAL MEDIA
As clashes continued across Gaza, images appeared on social media showing dozens of men stripped to their underwear and being guarded by Israeli soldiers. Israeli media reported the men were Hamas fighters who had surrendered.
The Israel Defense Forces did not comment after one of the men was identified as a Palestinian journalist.
The Hamas-run health ministry claims that besides taking prisoners, Israel has killed more than 17,177 people in its retaliatory campaign for the October 7 massacres, including about 7,000 children.
Although these figures have been questioned, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concerns about the mounting bloodshed in Gaza. “It is imperative – it remains imperative – that Israel put a premium on civilian protection, and there does remain a gap between exactly what I said when I was there, the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground,” Blinken said.
He spoke at a joint press conference with David Cameron, the British foreign secretary, in Washington DC on Thursday.
Blinken has made four trips to Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, known as the “Black Sabbath” in Israel after Hamas carried out the worst recorded atrocities against Jews since World War Two.
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