15- Nov-2023- News Agencies
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What does UN Security Council resolution say?
The resolution is the first passed by the 15-member council since the beginning of the conflict.
Here’s what it says:
- The resolution focuses on the conflict’s “disproportionate” effects on children.
- It calls for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” throughout Gaza for a length of time to allow “full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access” for both evacuations and aid.
- It lists fuel as among the items that must be allowed to be delivered “unhindered”.
- It calls for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children”.
- It rejects forced displacement and demands that all parties comply with international law.
- The resolution requires the UN chief to give a report on its implementation at the next meeting of the Security Council concerning the Middle East
Russia seeks ‘ceasefire’ amendment to new UNSC draft resolution
Kicking off the UN Security Council hearing, Russia has requested an oral amendment to the resolution introduced by Malta.
The amendment calls for “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce, leading to a cessation of hostilities”.
The current resolution only calls for “extended humanitarian pauses”. The US has previously opposed calling for an outright ceasefire.
“This is the lowest common denominator,” Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Alekseyevich Nebenzya said, citing the “monstrous humanitarian situation” in Gaza and Israeli storming of al-Shifa Hospital
Wake-up call to Israel’: Rights groups welcome UN Security Council vote
Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch, said the fact that Washington “finally stopped paralyzing the Security Council on Israel and Palestine” demonstrates to Israel that “global concern, even among its allies, is strong”.
HRW’s Israel and Palestine director, Omar Shakir, added that the world “must act to prevent further mass atrocities” in Gaza.
Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, also welcomed the vote.
“This is hopefully a turning point, the first steps towards alleviating the sufferings of the people of Gaza. Let Humanity prevail,” she wrote on X.
US condemns some Security Council members after abstaining from vote
After abstaining from the UNSC vote, Washington’s envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned council members that she said still have not condemned Hamas.
“I want to say that I’m horrified that a few members of this council still cannot bring themselves to condemn the barbaric terrorist attack that Hamas carried out against Israel on October 7,” she said.
“What are they afraid of?” Thomas-Greenfield asked. “There’s no excuse for failing to condemn these acts of terror.”
She added that Hamas’s action “do not lessen Israel’s responsibility to protect innocent people in Gaza … at the end of the day, this all comes down to one clear, urgent goal to save innocent lives”.
The US is one of five permanent members with veto power on the council. It had previously vetoed an earlier Security Council resolution calling for humanitarian pauses because it did not affirm “Israel’s right to self-defence
UN Security Council passes ‘humanitarian pause’ resolution
Twelve UNSC members voted in favour.
None voted against.
Three countries – the US, UK and Russia – abstained.
Meanwhile … UK House of Commons rejects Gaza ceasefire
With attention turned to al-Shifa Hospital and the UN Security Council vote, we have a quick update from the UK House of Commons, where a Scottish National Party-proposed motion backing a ceasefire in Gaza was just rejected.
The amendment calling for “all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire” failed in a vote of 125 in favour and 293 against.
The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, has come under pressure after 56 Labour lawmakers, including several on his policy team, voted for a ceasefire.
The backing of so many Labour lawmakers showed levels of disquiet in the party over the war in Gaza.
UAE says resolution offers chance to show Security Council hasn’t dismissed Gaza’s suffering
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s ambassador to the UN, said the “council has been unable to produce anything that would alleviate the suffering of the civilians in Gaza” after four previous votes on resolutions failed.
“Outside this building, and in our region in particular, the council appears indifferent to the carnage and dismissive of the suffering,” she said.
The UAE is the only Arab country currently on the Security Council.
“The draft resolution is born from the idea that we must come together now to act under one fundamental common aim – the protection of children. That has been the North Star, that has guided this council’s approach on this draft and brings us together today to vote on the text before us.
Latest UN Security Council resolution seeks to find language all members will support
This latest attempt was spearheaded by Malta and focuses on children. They did so thinking that this would be the one area that they could get all council members to agree to – the need to protect children.
To that end, they put forward a resolution that calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to allow rapid and unhindered delivery of essential goods.
The issue here for the Security Council has been what a ceasefire would look like. Some council members, the United States in particular, have been opposed to using the word “ceasefire”. They’ve agreed in the past to humanitarian pauses, but they also vetoed an earlier resolution that they felt was too restrictive.
Russia, on the other hand, has been calling for an unequivocal ceasefire, a humanitarian ceasefire. So this is an attempt to find language that neither country would veto and that enough council members would support.
UN Security Council set to vote on fifth resolution on Israel-Gaza war
The resolution, introduced by Malta, calls for “extended humanitarian pauses”, unfettered aid delivery, medical evacuations, and the unconditional release of captives held in Gaza. It also stresses the need for all parties to comply with international humanitarian law.
Four previous votes related to the conflict have failed in the Security Council, where the Untied States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom wield veto power as permanent members of the 15-member body.
An initial Brazil-drafted resolution calling for humanitarian pauses was vetoed by the US for failing to “mention Israel’s right of self-defence”. A subsequent US-drafted resolution, which stated Israel’s “right to self-defence” but did not call for humanitarian pauses, was vetoed by Russia and China.
Two subsequent Russian draft resolutions were not vetoed, but did not attain the nine votes needed to be approved by the council.
The latest resolution also does not state Israel’s “right to self-defence”, making it unclear how the US would vote. The vote is expected around 3pm local time in New York (20:00 GMT).
Qatar calls for international investigation into Israeli raid on hospital
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for “an urgent international investigation”, including by the United Nations, to look into “the targeting of hospitals by the Israeli occupation army”.
Doha said in a statement that the Israeli raid on al-Shifa Hospital is “a war crime and a blatant violation of international laws”.
The Gulf nation, which has been leading mediation efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire and the release of captives, called on the “international community to take swift and decisive measures to hold Israel accountable, acting as a deterrent against further crimes targeting civilians
UNICEF chief postpones Israel visit after car crash injury
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell was injured in a car crash in Egypt on Tuesday while travelling to the Gaza Strip and has had to postpone a visit to Israel due to her injuries, a spokesperson said.
“While en route to Rafah, we believe the car hit or tried to avert a big pothole that made the car go over a deep ditch and flip on the side,” said Kurtis Cooper, adding that Russell “experienced significant bruising, and is in quite a bit of discomfort, but her injuries are not considered serious”.
He said Russell continued her visit to Gaza and then doctors determined she required further care, so she postponed the rest of her visit to the region, which included Israel.
Speaking to Al Jazeera earlier today, Russell said she had visited a hospital in Khan Younis and appealed for more fuel to be allowed into the enclave.
Israel has allowed some fuel in for use by UNRWA trucks, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said earlier today, but officials have said that is woefully inadequate.
UN Human Rights Office concerned over ‘fuel depletion’ in Gaza
Fuel underpins access to and provision of all humanitarian services in Gaza, said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“Without it, access by the people of Gaza to life-saving humanitarian assistance will all but cease,” the UN agency said.
The agency is already seeing a “cascading collapse in water, sewage, and sanitation services, telecoms, food shortages, and healthcare” in the Gaza Strip, it said.
The office added that in addition to allowing fuel into the besieged coastal enclave, Israel must also enable access to Gaza through the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing under its control.
UK MPs vote against calling for ceasefire – but dozens defy Labour stance
More now on tonight’s vote by the UK House of Commons which voted against calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, by 293 votes to 125.
Neither Prime Minister Rishi Sunak nor Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer back a ceasefire – and have called for humanitarian pauses to let aid through. Pressure has been building on Starmer for days to change his position, but he refused to.
Tonight, 56 Labour MPs disobeyed Starmer’s instruction not to vote for the ceasefire motion, which was put forward by the Scottish National Party.
And several of Starmer’s top team quit their roles in order to vote for the SNP motion (they wouldn’t have been able to vote for it otherwise).
Among them, Jess Phillips is probably the most high-profile. Others include Yasmin Qureshi, Naz Shah, Helen Hayes, Afzal Khan and Paula Barker.
Proposed ceasefire duration main stumbling block in captive release talks: Report
Citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter, Israeli news outlet Walla! said the ceasefire duration was the main sticking point in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas.
One source also said difficulties communicating with Hamas leaders in Gaza have slowed down the negotiations.
As we’ve reported over the past few days, Qatar-mediated negotiations to secure the release of captives held in Gaza – in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel – are advancing.
The Reuters news agency also reported earlier today that Qatari mediators are seeking to negotiate a deal that would include the release of around 50 civilians held in Gaza in exchange for a three-day ceasefire.
Hamas has agreed to the general details of the plan, but Israel has not and is still negotiating, an official told Reuters.
More than 100 Harvard faculty slam president’s curbs on free expression
The faculty members have criticised the US university president’s condemnation of the pro-Palestinian slogan, “From the river to the sea”.
Our community must understand that phrases such as ‘from the river to the sea’ bear specific historical meanings that to a great many people imply the eradication of Jews from Israel and engender both pain and existential fears within our Jewish community,” President Cauline Gay said in a statement to the student body last week.
“I condemn this phrase and any similarly hurtful phrases.”
However, the phrase is used by many to appeal for freedom for Palestinians from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
In their letter to the president, the faculty members said the slogan has a “long and complicated history” that “deserves, and is receiving, sustained and ongoing inquiry and debate”.
Singling out the phrase is “imprudent as a matter of university policy and badly misjudged as an act of moral leadership”, the Harvard University faculty members wrote. They called the president’s statements “dangerously one-sided”.
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