A catastrophic failure as the body responsible for international peace and security failed to find a minimum solution within 40 days of the massacres
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Finally, after 40 days of the war of extermination waged by the Zionist entity against the civilian population in Gaza, and after the number of Palestinian victims, including martyrs, injured and missing, has reached around 45,000, including 70% children and women, the UN Council decided The Security Council adopted resolution 2712 (2023) on the protection of children, civilians and hospitals. The aim is to bring humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip, stop attacks on hospitals and civilians and demand the unconditional release of hostages. The draft resolution received 12 positive votes, while Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom opted to “abstain” for their own reasons. A catastrophic failure as the body responsible for international peace and security failed to find a minimum solution within 40 days of the massacres. In this article we will try to trace how the United Nations acted in the face of this war of annihilation.
Among official officials and agencies, it is important to distinguish two types of United Nations: the circle of official officials and the heads of agencies, funds, programs and specialized organizations. At the head of this system are the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations and the heads of specialized organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO, as well as the leaders of bodies such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Palestine Relief and Works (UNRWA), the World Food Program, the United Nations Population Fund and other.
The second sector includes the main organs of the international organization, which are subject to the will of governments and act according to the instructions of their countries. The most important are the Security Council, the General Assembly, followed by the Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice.
Everything issued by the main bodies is subject to consensus and conflict between member states. On the other hand, the circle of international officials and the heads of specialized agencies and organizations are prohibited from expressing the opinion of any government or official body and may only express what their conscience dictates, as long as this does not contradict the mandate or authorization granted . on the position and not on the person. It has happened both in the recent and in the distant past that an employee found himself in a complete conflict between the order given in the position and his personal beliefs, which led to his resignation. One example was Craig Moukheiber, head of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who resigned on October 28, 2023 in protest at the United Nations’ positions on the war in Gaza.
CONTINUED AFTER RECOMMENDATIONS
Let’s look at the positions of the key UN officials to see why they failed, were cowards and, except for a few of them, identified with the Israeli position.
The Secretary General and senior officials
A number of positions were repeated in the statements of United Nations SecretaryGeneral António Guterres and senior international officials following the events of October 7, as if they had been dictated to them. Guterres began, and all senior officials followed his example. These points are:
The need to condemn the Hamas movement in name and consider its actions as an unjustified act of terrorism;
Emphasize Israel’s right to selfdefense;
Do not relate the events of October 7th to the general situation in Gaza or Palestine, as there is no mention of the siege or occupation.
Do not call for an immediate ceasefire or even a humanitarian ceasefire;
Demand the unconditional release of the hostages;
Finally, it cannot hurt to mention the need to comply with the laws of war and international humanitarian law.
Strict compliance with international humanitarian law
Guterres, in his successive statements, made no mention of a ceasefire or a humanitarian ceasefire until after the Baptista Hospital massacre on Tuesday, October 17, the eleventh day of Israel’s massacres of the Palestinian people. From the first moment of the attack by the Palestinian resistance on the morning of October 7, the Secretary General made a strong statement, which was followed by four consecutive statements: he described the operation as terrorism and condemned it in the strongest terms, called for the release of the hostages and referred to Israel’s right to selfdefense. But he reminded Israel that military operations must be carried out in strict accordance with international humanitarian law.
On October 24, the SecretaryGeneral made a statement at the ministeriallevel meeting of the Security Council chaired by Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. He explained: “What happened on October 7th did not come out of nowhere.” He then addressed the suffering of the Palestinian people in the country’s 56 years of occupation, settlement construction, economic destruction and looting.
After criticism, the SecretaryGeneral softened his tone over the deaths of civilians in the Gaza Strip, leading to statements that sounded like apologies. However, when he condemned Hamas’ acts of terrorism, he did not mention Israel in connection with the deaths of civilians. Sticking to the Israeli narrative of accusing Hamas of “using civilians as human shields” raises concerns about the justification for continuing the conflict.
Despite meetings with families of abducted people and their representatives visiting occupied territories, the lack of interaction with Palestinian families is notable. While the SecretaryGeneral reiterated the Israeli narrative in his October 6 statement, he did not condemn Israel’s actions, even given the devastating impact, including more than 4,500 child victims, raids on hospitals and damage to vital infrastructure.
Water tanks, solar panels and gas tanks were bombed. Incubators for premature babies stopped working due to a lack of electricity. To date we have not heard the word “condemnation of Israel.”
The siege endangers the lives of civilians
Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk made two statements on the events in Gaza. His first statement was balanced and the only one that called for the immediate cessation of military operations against civilians and attacks that were expected to result in disproportionate deaths and injuries to civilians or damage to civilian monuments. He also opposed the blockade, which endangers the lives of civilians by depriving them of essential goods, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law. In a second statement, he blamed Hamas and condemned its actions. It appears that he received one of the inflammatory letters. He then issued a third statement on the Baptista Hospital massacre, saying: “It is absolutely unacceptable” and calling for those responsible for the massacre to be held accountable.
The head of the organization for education, science and culture, Audrey Azoulay, is in another world. All we heard from her was an expression of concern over the murder of nine journalists, a warning about the serious impact of the events in Gaza on the safety of journalists and a call for all parties to respect and immediately implement international law. She said nine journalists have been killed in the line of duty since Israel’s aggression against Gaza. Azoulay described this figure as “terrible”. However, on October 11, the UNESCO General Conference adopted a draft resolution presented by a group of Arab countries to protect education, cultural heritage and journalists from Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. The resolution called on the DirectorGeneral of UNESCO to effectively monitor the situation in Gaza to ensure the organization’s direct participation in the implementation of relevant measures within its competence and to organize a briefing meeting with the SubOffice strengthened in Gaza City to meet needs in its areas of responsibility, provided that it submits a report on the implementation of the UNESCO emergency assistance program in Gaza to the Executive Board at its 219th session.
The brave woman is Francesca Albanese, rapporteur on human rights, concerned about human rights violations in the territories occupied since 1967. In her statement, she mentioned the Nakba repeats of 1948 and 1967 and warned of a possible larger scenario. He explained that the Israeli authorities had publicly called for another Nakba, referring to the expulsions of Palestinians in 1947 and 1949. Albanese accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing under the pretext of selfdefense.
The most controversial statement came from UN official Alice Weremu Nderitu. It strongly condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks, focusing on attacks on Israeli civilians but ignoring concerns about Palestinian casualties. About 50 UN officials, including Palestinians, criticized the statement, highlighting their prejudices and expressing anger over the bombings and collective punishment in Gaza.
Martin Griffiths, the humanitarian coordinator, who was not supposed to enter politics, began his first statement by emphasizing that he condemned Hamas’ actions, then moved on to the issue of the hostages: “I would first like to emphasize that These are the actions of Israel.” “Taking hostages many of them children, women, old and sick people are unacceptable and illegal.” He objected to the request to move residents of the northern Gaza Strip to the south, saying: “People cannot be required to move away from the danger zone without assistance and to go to a place of their choice that will provide the humanitarian assistance they need.” He then decided to go to Egypt to participate in the procurement of necessary humanitarian supplies and deliver them to the besieged people. In Jerusalem, Griffiths met with Israeli families of prisoners, but Palestinian families were not on his agenda, nor was Tor Winesland.
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini addressed members of the Security Council several times and delivered a moving speech at the ArabIslamic Summit in Riyadh. In his speech to the Security Council on October 30, he began, as always, by condemning the terrible attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7, which he described as “shocking,” but went into more detail about the events in Gaza. continuous bombardment by Israeli forces.” Gaza also causes shock. “The scale of destruction is unprecedented.” He stressed that there is no safe place in Gaza. He addressed Israel Defense Forces’ evacuation orders for civilians to head south, “which constitutes forced relocation.” UNRWA lost 103 staff, all Palestinians, and a vigil was held in their memory at United Nations headquarters without words of mercy, and the organization’s flag was lowered in half in mourning.”
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell delivered an emotional speech to the Security Council, calling on members to adopt a resolution reminding parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law. Russell emphasized the need to protect civilians, ensure safe humanitarian access, release abducted children and ensure the special protection children deserve. She stressed the urgency of prioritizing the displacement crisis.
The Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed understanding for the feelings of anger, sadness and fear of both the Israeli people and the people of Gaza. He mentioned attacks by Hamas and other armed groups against Israeli civilians and the devastating response in Gaza that killed more than 10,800 people, including women and children. Dr. Tedros highlighted the critical situation in the health sector in Gaza, with attacks on health facilities and a lack of operational capacity in many health centers.
The two main absentees from this massacre are Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who came to the Rafah crossing to strongly condemn the Hamas movement and talk about the Jewish Holocaust, and then left without condemning what is happening there Gaza. or he promised to prosecute war criminals, as he did in Ukraine. The second is Virginia Gamba, representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Children and Armed Conflict, who has removed Israel’s name from the list of shame for the past four years. She completely disappeared from the stage as if it was none of her business.
Security Council and General Assembly
The Security Council held ten meetings on Gaza, some closed to consultations and others held at ministerial level. Four draft resolutions were voted on, all of which failed: a Brazilian draft resolution that was overturned by the American veto, and two draft resolutions put forward by Russia, none of which reached the minimum required for adoption due to the antiRussian bloc within the security focus condemning the right of Hamas and Israel to defend their defenses. The issue was then referred to the General Assembly, which heard 105 speeches over two days and then voted on a simple Arabic draft resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, committed to the provision of humanitarian assistance and prevented the evacuation of Palestinians from their territory. houses and evict them inside or outside the Gaza Strip. The resolution, titled “Protecting Palestinian civilians,” presented by the Jordanled Arab group was adopted with a twothirds majority, which is the minimum required to adopt a resolution titled “Together for Peace.” They voted for Resolution 121 (Iraq came back and changed its abstention vote to “yes”) and 14 voted against it, while 45 countries voted “abstain”.
Ultimately, the issue was referred back to the Council and the Maltese draft resolution was adopted on Wednesday, becoming resolution 2712 (2023), but this did not change the reality on the ground. The Zionist organization rejected this immediately before the end of the session, proving once again that it is above the law and accountability. It is a disrespect for the United Nations, its mechanisms, staff, systems and prestige. Is there any reason at all for the international organization to continue in this humiliating manner, which allows a pariah state to undermine its reputation, trample on its decisions and become genocidal before the eyes of the world without fear, hesitation or remorse to wage war?
This article does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247 and is the responsibility of the columnist.