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UN Security Council approves aid for Gaza, stops short of call for ceasefire
The United Nations Security Council has voted in favour of boosting humanitarian to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities” on Friday.
The vote was initially scheduled for Monday but was finally agreed after a week of delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.
Although the US did ultimately abstain, the 15-member council was able to adopt the resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.
It comes amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
The adopted resolution “calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
However, the initial draft had harsher language and called for “an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” to allow aid access.
UN Security Council passes resolution on Gaza aid amid calls for ceasefire
The United Nations Security Council has voted in favour of boosting humanitarian said to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities” on Friday.
The vote was initially scheduled for Monday but was finally agreed after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.
It comes amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
The US abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 17:21
Why was the resolution drafted?
The “purpose” of the draft resolution introduced by the United Arab Emirates said “is very simple,” ambassador Lana Nusseibeh told the council in New York on Friday.
It “responds with action” to the dire conditions in Gaza while protecting those who are trying to deliver aid,” she said.
The resolution demands “urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” amid dire warnings from international aid groups and pressure from global officials for an end to the siege.
Within 10 weeks, Israel’s air-and-ground assault in Gaza has now killed more than 20,000 people, a figure that amounts to nearly 1 per cent of the population before Israel’s war against Hamas.
Israel launched its devastating retaliatory campaign following Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October that left 1,200 people dead and took roughly 240 hostages.
Israel’s response has killed roughly one in every 100 people in Gaza. More than two-thirds are women and children.
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 17:27
Was the resolution watered down?
After many delays, the UN Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution calling for immediately speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza on Friday.
However, the resolution was without the original call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas.
The original draft was initially scheduled for Monday but was delayed every day this week to prevent the US from abstaining from the vote.
The revised text was negotiated during a week and a half of high-level diplomacy by the United States, the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Arab nations and others.
Rather than watered down, US ambassador Lina Thomas-Greenfield described the resolution as “strong” and said it “is fully supported by the Arab group that provides them what they feel is needed to get humanitarian assistance on the ground.” But it was stripped of its key provision with teeth — a call for “the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.” Instead, it calls “for urgent steps to immediately allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and also for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 17:37
David Cameron welcomes UN resolution
David Cameron has welcomed the adoption of the UN resolution to bring more humanitarian aid into the beseiged Gaza strip.
“It is good news that the UN has come together to back a resolution to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the UK Foreign Secretary said:.
“The UK is doing everything it can to get more aid in, as I saw when I visited Al Arish in Egypt, near the border with Gaza, this week.
“People across Gaza urgently need food, medicine and shelter. We have consistently argued for more aid and called on Israel to open more border crossings.”
He added that the resolution demands the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and crucially calls for steps towards a sustainable ceasefire.
“As well as the need for expanded humanitarian access, the UN resolution today demands the immediate and unconditional release of hostages. This is vital.
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 17:53
Watch: UN Security Council approves aid for Gaza
The United Nations Security Council has approved further access to humanitarian aid for Gaza by adopting a revised resolution on Friday.
UN Security Council approves aid for Gaza, stops short of call for ceasefire
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 18:04
Israel UN ambassador criticises resolution
Israel‘s Ambassador to the United Nations criticised the Security Council for its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack following a Friday vote to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The UN’s focus only on aid mechanisms to Gaza is unnecessary and disconnected from reality – Israel is already allowing aid deliveries at the required scale,” said Gilad Erdan. “The UN should have focused on the humanitarian crisis of the hostages.”
Erdan also thanked the United States for its strong support of Israel during the negotiations on the resolution, which he said maintained Israel‘s security authority to inspect aid entering Gaza.
(Getty Images)
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 18:17
Starmer welcomes UN vote and calls for ‘sustained’ ceasefire
Following the adoption of a UN resolution to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for work towards a sustained ceasefire.
“I welcome today’s vote at the United Nations Security Council,” he said.
“The horrors of recent months have been intolerable. This resolution describes how we must work for a sustained ceasefire.”
He added: “Hamas must release all the remaining hostages, end all attacks on Israel and have no role in the future governance of Gaza.
“Israel must agree to end its bombing campaign, allow a humanitarian surge into Gaza, and end settler violence and displacement in the West Bank.”
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 18:30
Problems for UN aid efforts lie with Israel, UN chief says
Following the vote that confirmed the adoption of a UN resolution urging for more humanitarian aid in Gaza, the UN chief the “real problem” for UN aid efforts has been Israel’s offensive.
“A humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare,” Antonio Guterres said.
He added that Israel’s offensive has caused “massive obstacles” in aid efforts.
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Athena Stavrou22 December 2023 18:48
Cameron calls UN resolution ‘good news’
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron celebrated the passage of the UN resolution, saying in a statement: “It is good news that the UN has come together to back a resolution to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
“This resolution repeats so many of the points we have been making: the importance of complying with international humanitarian law. The need to reduce civilian casualties and it also backs a two-state solution that would be the best long-term guarantee of security and stability for both Israel and the Palestinian people,” he added.
David Taintor22 December 2023 19:16
Cornel West slams Biden administration over UN resolution
Academic and outsider US presidential candidate Cornel West was sharply critical on Friday of the UN Security Council resolution on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
In a statement on X, he accused the Biden administration of having “watered down” original calls for a ceasefire, setting the stage for “further war crimes and genocidal acts by the State of Israel.
“I reject this resolution and its intentional use of semantics to beguile the global community,” he added. “This is not diplomacy, it’s complicity and a green light for Israel to continue their campaign of slaughter and moral bankruptcy.”
Josh Marcus22 December 2023 19:29
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