After several postponements since Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on Wednesday on a new resolution aimed at improving the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, a vote with a very uncertain outcome after complicated negotiations.
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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 15 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.
“We hope that the Security Council will raise its voice in favor of a resolution,” Russian diplomat chief Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday at a meeting with Arab League member countries that also spoke in favor of adopting a resolution.
The latest version of the resolution, obtained by AFP, calls for an “urgent cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and urgent steps towards 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,” a possible pause in the war has been referred to as a “pause,” “ceasefire,” “cessation, “humanitarian fire…” at the center of the Council's disagreements for more than two months .
Shortly before the planned vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept up the pressure and on Wednesday again ruled out a ceasefire in Gaza before the “elimination” of Hamas.
All eyes are on the Americans
“We would support a resolution that fully supports meeting the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, but (…) the details are most important,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.
“Everyone is waiting to see what the United States will do. It seems that even American diplomats do not know how this saga will end,” commented Richard Gowan, analyst at the International Crisis Group, to AFP.
“Ultimately, Biden and his inner circle will have to make a difficult decision: either suffer further diplomatic damage by vetoing it again, or risk a public dispute with Israel by passing the resolution,” he said.
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.
Concerned about the “rapid deterioration” of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, this latest version of the text also calls for the parties to the conflict to facilitate the entry and distribution of aid throughout the territory “by land, sea and air.”
After the Oct. 7 attack, which Israeli authorities said killed around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, Israel vowed to “destroy Hamas,” shelling and besieging Palestinian territory and conducting a major operation. On Earth since October 27th.
Hamas' health ministry said on Tuesday that Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have killed 19,667 people, mostly women, children and teenagers, since the start of the war.