Security Council to vote on ceasefire draft resolution

NEW YORK — On Friday, the UN Security Council, under pressure from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, will convene to vote on a draft resolution for an “immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons” in Gaza, as the “Riyadh Summit” delegation arrived in Washington, to complete its tour calling for an end to the Israeli war that has been ongoing for more than two months in the Strip.  اضافة اعلان

Last Wednesday, Antonio Guterres sent a letter to the Security Council in which he used Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, which allows him to “draw the attention” of the Council to a file that “could endanger international peace and security,” in the first activation of this article in decades, which sparked outrage in Israel.

He wrote in his letter, "With the continuous bombing of Israeli forces, and with no shelters or minimum survival rates, I expect an imminent complete collapse of public order due to desperate circumstances, which makes it impossible to (provide) humanitarian assistance, even if it is limited."

He renewed his call for a humanitarian ceasefire to avoid “irreversible consequences for the Palestinians, and for peace and security in the region,” as he put it.
Following Guterres's unprecedented message, the United Arab Emirates prepared a draft resolution to be put to a vote in the Security Council today, Friday, according to what the Ecuadorian presidency of the Council reported.

In its latest version, the draft resolution calls for an “immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons” in Gaza, warning of the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”

The brief text also calls for “the protection of civilians,” “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” and “ensuring humanitarian access.”

However, the outcome of the vote is not guaranteed after the Security Council rejected four draft resolutions in the weeks following the outbreak of the war.

The Council finally broke its silence in mid-November by adopting a resolution that called for “truces and humanitarian corridors” in the Gaza Strip, and not for a “ceasefire.”

The United States, Israel's closest ally, considers that issuing a new Security Council resolution "will not be useful at the current stage," after it opposed one of the previous draft resolutions and has consistently rejected the idea of a ceasefire.

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Security Council must take measures to strengthen a comprehensive ceasefire and end the war in Gaza.


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