UNSC Approves Gaza Humanitarian Ceasefire Resolution – What It Says

A UN Security Council meeting. (Photo: Evan Schneider, via United Nations website)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Wednesday calling for urgent and extended humanitarian corridors throughout Gaza.

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Wednesday calling for urgent and extended humanitarian corridors throughout the besieged Gaza Strip to save and protect civilian lives.

This came following four unsuccessful attempts to take action regarding the matter last month

Today’s resolution was drafted by Malta. 

The United States, Russia, and Britain, which are council veto powers, abstained from the vote. 

Russia failed in its bid to amend the resolution and call for an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a permanent cessation of hostilities. 

The United States and Britain abstained because the resolution failed to condemn the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas.

What The Resolution Says

The resolution demands that “all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children”.

It also calls for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages (…), especially children”.

The text also calls on,

“all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to their survival, consistent with international humanitarian law, which has a disproportionate impact on children”. 

Following the vote, Chinese UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said that the Council should have adopted a more robust resolution earlier.

“The key rests on the implementation of the resolution and its provisions to the letter”, he said.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israel has, thus far, killed over 11,500 Palestinians, including 4,710 children.

The Israeli army continues to pound civilian homes throughout the Gaza Strip with new massacres reported everywhere in the besieged enclave.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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