Middle East, immediate ceasefire at the UN table. The US rejects the requests

An immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is on the table of the UN Security Council. The draft resolution that the body is expected to vote on tonight was presented by the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the Council, after the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, appealed for the first time in his mandate to Article 99 of the UN Charter, instrument that serves to draw the attention of the Council itself to an issue that the secretary believes could “threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”. Speaking at the UN Council meeting, Guterres issued a new heartfelt appeal, calling for pressure for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. While the US has reiterated that it does not support this option, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to do more to protect civilians, saying there is a “gap” between promises and reality on the ground. . With a possible US veto, it is currently unclear whether the text will actually be put to a vote. “The people of Gaza are staring into the abyss. The international community must do everything possible to end their ordeal. I urge the UN Council to spare no effort in pressing for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the protection of civilians and for the urgent delivery of vital aid”, is Guterres’ appeal, which came on the same day that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned that “in Gaza we are reaching a point of no return”. Just 69 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, far fewer than expected by the United States and international aid groups.

All eyes are on the United States, a country that is an ally of Israel and has veto rights in the Security Council. To be approved, the UAE resolution on an immediate ceasefire does not require a veto from any of the 5 permanent members of the Council, namely the US, Russia, China, France and the UK, but it is expected that Washington does not support the text: “We do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire”, clarified the US deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, reducing hopes of approval with his speech at the meeting. Hamas “continues to pose a threat to Israel and remains in command of Gaza,” “for this reason, although the United States strongly supports a lasting peace in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire,” he said, adding that the ceasefire would “only plant the seeds for the next war, because Hamas does not want to see a lasting peace, to see a two-state solution.” Shortly before, the BBC had informed that the vote in the Security Council had been moved to 11:30 pm, Italian time, due to the meeting scheduled in Washington between the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the ministers of some Arab countries. “Our message is that we believe that it is absolutely necessary to end the fighting immediately,” said Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, speaking on behalf of the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee currently visiting Washington to meet with U.S. officials. , denouncing that the end of the fighting in Gaza does not seem to be a priority for the international community.

Guterres’ warning is as follows: “It is clear that, in my opinion, there is a serious risk of exacerbating existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security.” And during the UN Council meeting, the UN secretary added that “the brutality perpetuated by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”. The UN estimates that around 1.9 million people have been displaced and new military evacuation orders are squeezing people into increasingly small areas, most without food, water and medicine. “The risk of collapse of the humanitarian system is fundamentally linked to the total lack of security for our personnel in Gaza and the nature and intensity of military operations that severely limit access to people who desperately need it,” said Guterres. In the afternoon, air raid warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv and other cities in central Israel due to a huge rocket launch from the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said several hostages were “killed and injured” in Israeli airstrikes and added that it fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv “in response to massacres committed against civilians.” Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health provided a new death toll: since October 7, 17,487 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, including more than 7,000 children, while another 46,480 people have been injured.