After four failed attempts, the UN Security Council scheduled a vote Wednesday on a resolution that would call for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip” in the Israel-Hamas war.
The final draft watered down language from a “demand” to a “call.” It also watered down a demand for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups” to a call.
Malta, which sponsored the resolution, called for the vote after lengthy negotiations. Several diplomats said they expect it to be adopted. That requires nine “yes” votes from the 15-member council and no veto by any of its five permanent members: the US, Russia, China, Britain, and France.
The draft resolution makes no mention of a ceasefire.
War erupted after Hamas-led terrorists launched a devastating onslaught on October 7, in which they rampaged through southern communities, killing over 1,200 people, mostly civilians butchered in their homes and at a music festival, and kidnapping some 240 people. Israel then declared war with the aim of toppling the terror group’s regime in Gaza, which it has ruled since 2007.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Tuesday that 11,500 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, in figures that cannot be independently verified, do not distinguish between civilians and terror operatives, and also include those killed in hundreds of failed Palestinian rocket launches.
The draft asks that “all parties comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children.”
Malta’s UN envoy Vanessa Frazier said “the Security Council members are united in wanting a voice.”
While recognizing the “nuances” between their positions, she said all 15 members have “the desire to save life and provide respite” to civilians.
UN Security Council resolutions are legally binding, but in practice, many parties choose to ignore the council’s requests for action.
Richard Gowan, UN director for the International Crisis Group, said the Security Council has called for ceasefires in wars from the Balkans to Syria “with little or no impact.”
The Security Council, which has the responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, has been paralyzed by its internal divisions since the war began. This is especially the case between China and Russia, which want an immediate ceasefire, and the United States, which has called for humanitarian pauses, and objects to any mention of a ceasefire in support of its close ally Israel, which strongly opposes a ceasefire at this time.
“I know we are all disappointed about the inaction of the Council in the past 40 days,” China’s UN ambassador Jun Zhang said Wednesday.
The new resolution calls for humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a “sufficient number of days” for unhindered access by the UN, Red Cross, and other aid groups to get water, electricity, fuel, food, and medical supplies to all those in need. It says the pauses also should allow for the repair of essential infrastructure and enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts.
In the four previous tries for Security Council approval, a Brazil-drafted resolution was vetoed by the United States, a US-drafted resolution was vetoed by Russia and China and two Russian-drafted resolutions failed to get the minimum “yes” votes.
After the fourth failure, frustrated Arab nations turned to the 193-member General Assembly and succeeded in getting wide approval for a resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza meant to lead to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
It was the first United Nations response to the war. But unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they are a barometer of world opinion.
The vote was 120-14 with 45 abstentions. Of the five veto-holding Security Council members, Russia, China, and France voted in favor, the United States voted against and Britain abstained.
The General Assembly resolution was adopted on October 27, and Israel agreed on November 9 to four-hour pauses. But only limited aid has been delivered to Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt, and a humanitarian crisis has been brewing.
The Crisis Group’s Gowan said US opposition to a ceasefire “is a gift that keeps on giving for Russia diplomatically.” He said that while many diplomats think Russia is demanding a ceasefire “for largely cynical reasons to make the Americans look bad,” Moscow’s position “is closer to the mainstream of council thinking, and the US looks isolated.”
“A UN ceasefire call would embarrass but not really constrain the Israelis,” he told the AP. “But the US clearly feels that even such a symbolic move is too much of a political risk.”