“Break”, “ceasefire”, “humanitarian ceasefire”: The UN Council in search of the right formula
After several postponements since Monday, the United Nations (UN) Security Council could vote on Wednesday on a new resolution to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the outcome of which is still uncertain after complicated negotiations. The Council, widely criticized for its inaction since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, has been negotiating for several days on this four-page text, supported by the United Arab Emirates, which hopes that the fifteen members can finally “talk”. with one voice.”
Since Hamas's unprecedented bloody attack on Israel on October 7 and the Israeli army's retaliatory shelling of the Gaza Strip, the Council has managed to break its silence only once. Thus, on November 15, it adopted a text calling for “humanitarian pauses,” but within two months it rejected five more texts, the last of which, calling for a real “humanitarian ceasefire,” was approved by the United States on December 8 was blocked.
Despite this American veto, the Emirates, with overwhelming support from the General Assembly for a ceasefire, launched a new fight in the council “to go a little further” than the November resolution, said its UN ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh. The latest version of this resolution, obtained by Agence France-Presse and subject to change, calls for an “urgent cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and urgent measures for a permanent cessation of hostilities.” A less direct wording than the previous version, which called for an “urgent and permanent cessation of hostilities.”
While Israel and its American ally reject the idea of a “ceasefire”, the qualification of a possible break in the war – “pause”, “truce”, “truce”, “humanitarian fire”…” has been the focus of the Council's departments for more than two months. And still one of the key points of the ongoing negotiations.
“We would welcome a resolution that fully supports meeting the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, but (…) the details are most important,” US Defense Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday. President Joe Biden recently said that Israel is at risk of losing the support of the international community because of its “indiscriminate” bombing of the Gaza Strip.
As in previous texts castigated by Israel and the United States, the latest draft resolution does not mention Hamas by name. On the other hand, he condemns “all indiscriminate attacks on civilians” and “all acts of terrorism” and calls for the release of the hostages.