The Palestine Chronicle spoke with Palestinians living in the Strip, who have been enduring Israel’s genocide for nearly six months, to ask their opinion on the United Nations Security Council resolution.
The United Nations Security Council failed on Friday to pass a US-led draft resolution that stated “the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire”.
Both Russia and China vetoed the resolution, which conditioned the ceasefire in Gaza to the “immediate” release of all “remaining hostages” currently held in Gaza.
Russia’s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the US was trying to “sell a product” to the UNSC by using the term “imperative” without demanding a ceasefire.
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For his part, China’s representative Zhang Jun said that the Council should call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, adding that too much time has been wasted in this regard.
The Palestine Chronicle spoke with Palestinians living in the Strip, who have been enduring Israel’s genocide for nearly six months, to ask their opinion on the matter.
‘We Want to Live in Peace’
“The US resolution did not stipulate a permanent cessation of the war,” Israa Al-Bardini, a Palestinian displaced in Deir Al-Balah, told The Palestine Chronicle.
“The proposal linked the decision to cease the war in Gaza to the negotiation process between Hamas and the Israeli occupation forces. This means that, even if it was approved, the negotiations could fail as it happened in November,” she added.
“What we want is a permanent halt to the war”.
“Isn’t the blood of more than 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them children and women, enough for the world to unite on a firm stance to force Israel to stop its war on Gaza?” wondered Baraa Eid, who is currently displaced in the Al-Bureij camp, in the central Gaza Strip.
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“We have no part in the political game between other major countries. We want to live in peace in our homeland, and we want the unjust blockade that Israel has imposed on us since 2006 to be lifted,” he told The Palestine Chronicle.
“What is happening on the ground now is the continuation of a brutal war, with more martyrs and victims falling every day,” Eid concluded.
Israeli Interests vs. Palestinian Interests
“The US-led resolution served the interests of the Israeli occupation more than our interests,” Mohammed Abu Warda, a young Palestinian from Gaza, told The Palestine Chronicle.
“The resolution called for the release of Israeli captives, condemned the Resistance, and criminalized its actions, which are essentially self-defense,” he continued.
Moreover, “it only proposed a temporary and sustainable cessation of the war, not a permanent one.”
“We in Gaza do not want a temporary cessation of fighting; we want a permanent end to the war,” Abu Warda continued.
“We want the occupation to be held accountable for its crimes. We want the prompt reconstruction of the Strip. We want the prisoners released. We want our sanctities protected. We want to ensure a dignified life for our children. We want to break the unjust Israeli siege on Gaza. We want to live like the rest of the world, with dignity, freedom, and complete peace.”
Abu Warda condemned the United States who “still stands by the side of the occupation and continues to supply it with weapons.”
“If the US truly wants to stop the war on Gaza and end the war of starvation and famine, the solution is simple: stop supporting Israel with weapons,” he said, firmly.
‘Our Hopes’
Wafaa Abu Kamil is currently displaced in the Nuseirat camp, in Central Gaza. She held similar views.
“We do not want a temporary cessation of fighting. A temporary cessation of fighting ensures Israel the return of hostages and allows it to continue the war after their return, which is not in our favor. We are exposed to death and killing at every moment,” she told The Palestine Chronicle.
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“The US and the West are only concerned about Israeli captives, but they are indifferent to the bloodshed of more than 100,000 Palestinians who have fallen in this war, between dead and wounded,” Abu Kamil said.
“This must stop. We want our rights and we want to live in peace in our homeland. We do not pin our hopes on the Security Council to stop the war; our hopes lie in our resilience and steadfastness. We live in this land and we will never leave.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle in the Gaza Strip. His email is abdallahaljamal1987@gmail.com
The problem is that a immediate demand for a ceasefire without conditions will be ignored by Israel. China and Russia know this and are doing this because they want the conflict to continue because it weakens the US politically. The US is trying to push a ceasefire that Israel will actually comply with.
The US’s resolution uses language with the word “ceasefire” in it, but, doesn’t actually call for one. China stated that in their reason for veto-ing it. I believe Russia stated it too.
The only things that the US resolution calls for are the release of the captives taken by Hamas (but not in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners held by the Zionists), as well as designates the resistance in Gaza as “terrorists”.
Politically, the USA was already weak and pathetic even before Israel began its holocaust against Gaza, over five months ago. U.S. politics, today, is nothing more than a complete clown show.
Bringing about an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, as Russia and China have been trying to do in the UNSC (in fact, this is what the vast majority of the world would like to happen), is certainly not the definition of “wanting the conflict to continue”; on the contrary, it’s the definition of wanting the conflict to immediately and permanently stop, without any conditions.
However, very sadly, the USA who pledges full, unconditional allegiance to the genocidal Zionist entity persistently vetoes any such resolution that comes about in the UNSC. Instead, it creates a totally absurd “ceasefire resolution” of its own, that does not call for any kind of permanent ceasefire; it only caters to the wishes of Israel, giving it the green light to continue on with its endless campaign of slaughtering and starving to death the civilians of Gaza.