Israel’s proposal to fully occupy Gaza City has prompted a UN Security Council emergency session and sharp criticism from several governments.
The UN Security Council will convene an emergency session on Saturday following Israel’s announcement that it plans to “take control of Gaza City” — a move that has drawn sharp international condemnation.
The Anadolu news agency cited informed sources as saying that the meeting was requested by the permanent missions of the UK, Denmark, France, Greece, and Slovenia.
Diplomatic sources said the request has been endorsed by all Council members except Panama, which currently holds the rotating presidency, and the United States. The session is expected to take place on Saturday afternoon.
The decision to call the meeting comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced early Friday that the Security Cabinet had approved a proposal to fully occupy Gaza City.
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Israeli media described the plan as the first phase of a broader strategy to take control of the entire Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the UK issued a joint statement on Friday “strongly rejecting” Israel’s plan, warning it would “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians.”
The foreign ministers of the five countries said the move risks violating international humanitarian law and stressed that “any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.”
They called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire “that enables the provision of a massive, immediate and unimpeded humanitarian assistance, as the worst-case scenario of a famine is unfolding in Gaza.”
The ministers also reiterated their support for a “negotiated two-state solution” and said such an outcome requires “the total demilitarization of Hamas and its complete exclusion from any form of governance in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel’s plan has intensified outrage over its genocidal war on Gaza, where more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
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The military campaign has leveled entire neighborhoods, destroyed vital infrastructure, and brought the enclave to the brink of famine, with deaths from starvation already reported.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its ongoing assault on the territory.
(PC, AJA)
The Two-State solution is desperately needed at the present time to protect the Palestinians and give them the time and the independence needed to build their territories into something Beautiful, along Palestinian designs… But this should be understood and commenced as a wider plan for a One-State solution, eventually leading to a Palestinian Majority State with a jewish minority and extending from the borders of Jordan to the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. That is how history is moving, that is the objective condition that is emerging and that is what israel’s Genocide policy and usa support for it is trying to prevent… Palestine needs to become today what Muslim Spain once was
— edited “the total demilitarization of “Israel” and its complete exclusion from any form of governance in the Gaza Strip.” Robert Inlakesh’s article (https://www.palestinechronicle.com/inside-the-us-israeli-plan-to-disarm-hezbollah-hamas-and-the-pmu) shows the West’s obsession about “total demilitarization” thing, desperate to erase the Resistance!