Russia and the United States abstained from voting, choosing not to use their veto power as permanent members of the Security Council, which would have rejected the resolution. Russia’s permanent representative to the World Organization, Vasily Nebenzya, said that the resolution in the UN Security Council was, in fact, emasculated due to changes that were made under pressure from the United States. Nebenzya pointed to the second paragraph of the resolution, in which, instead of language about an immediate cessation of violence, “an ambiguous phrase appeared about a call to the parties to create conditions for a cessation of hostilities,” TASS writes. “By signing this agreement, the Council will, in effect, give the Israeli military forces complete freedom of movement to further clear the Gaza Strip,” Nebenzya said before the vote. The original draft called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” and gave the UN greater control over the delivery of aid to Gaza. The resolution adopted favors less ambiguous ceasefire language and maintains Israeli control over all aid.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield abstained from voting after no condemnation of Hamas was found in the text. “We would like to see Hamas condemned,” a senior US diplomat told CNN. “We don’t understand why the Security Council can’t just explain how exactly we ended up where we are. But, in the end, that’s what diplomacy is all about,” he added.
Analysts say the United States did not want to vote against the resolution. Washington had previously vetoed another resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. The latest resolution calls for “urgent measures” to lay the foundations “for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.” The United States has faced accusations of double standards regarding its position in the Gaza Strip. Critics said the United States had spent months blaming Russia for alleged violations of international law in Ukraine. But Washington has provided Israel with weapons and diplomatic support even as it faces accusations of aggressive war in the Gaza Strip.
Sources previously told CNN that the main obstacle in the project was the call for the UN to “establish a monitoring mechanism in the Gaza Strip with the necessary personnel and equipment under the leadership of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.” Washington argued that the proposal for a mechanism established by the UN to monitor aid flowing to the Gaza Strip would be onerous and would slow down the delivery of critical aid. A senior US diplomat told the television station that the original idea of creating a new surveillance system inside Gaza during the war was “completely unfeasible.”
The vote came amid international calls to end the months-long conflict as Israeli forces continue to attack the enclave and the humanitarian situation in the besieged sector has reached critical levels, Al-Jazeera said. More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced to flee their homes. UN representatives described the situation in the Palestinian enclave with the words “hell on earth.”
“The vast majority of members of the Security Council and members of the General Assembly want a ceasefire, a complete end to the bombing of Gaza, to facilitate aid,” said a correspondent at UN headquarters. Since the fighting began, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children.
Although several aid trucks have delivered much-needed aid to Gaza, international rights groups say it will be impossible to truly resolve the humanitarian crisis in the enclave as long as fighting continues. “The real problem is the way Israel is carrying out this offensive, creating enormous obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid within the Gaza Strip. An effective relief operation requires security, personnel who can work safely, logistical capacity and the resumption of commercial activity. These Four elements do not exist,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told reporters after the vote.
Previously, the international organization called for an investigation into allegations of killings of unarmed Palestinians by Israeli troops. Hospitals, UN schools, journalists, health workers, mosques and churches were also attacked.
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