Humanitarian

After weeks of acrimonious discussions, the UN Security Council finally passed a resolution asking for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in the war-torn Gaza. With the exception of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, twelve nations voted in favor of the proposal. In accordance with international humanitarian law, the resolution demanded that “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip be established for a sufficient number of days to enable the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners.”

According to the International Rescue Committee, humanitarian organizations require a minimum five-day truce in order to carry out essential work that would restore basic requirements and services for Gaza’s over two million people. Last Monday, US President Joe Biden announced that he had requested “a pause for a lot more than three days” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the voting, Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, declared in a statement that the resolution was “disconnected from reality and is meaningless.” He declared, “Israel will continue acting in accordance with international law regardless of what the council decides, while the Hamas terrorists will not even read the resolution, let alone abide by it.”

Israel closed Gaza’s exits from the Palestinian enclave, cut off its food, water, and electricity supplies, and launched a heavy airstrike campaign in retaliation for the deadly terror attacks carried out by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which resulted in an estimated 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of about 240 people. Gaza has been under siege since October 7. The Gaza war has intensified in recent weeks, with increasing ground operations in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, from which inhabitants have been ordered to flee along authorized routes within brief windows of time.

Although the council is “finally acting,” according to Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Monsour, it ought to have demanded a ceasefire. He also took issue with it not denouncing the killings of civilians and aid workers. The International Rescue Committee referred to the vote as “an important first step” in a statement. Over the past few weeks, the senior UN officials’ pleas have become more abrasive, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has referred to the meager aid that has been permitted to reach Gaza as “a trickle” and “a drop in the ocean.” Over 120 nations last month voted in favor of a “sustained humanitarian truce” that would end hostilities at the UN General Assembly, indicating the mood of the world at large. However, in contrast to an obligatory vote in the Security Council, the vote in that body is nonbinding.

After several days of ceasefire, dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza grow worse as Israel widens its offensive. In the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Hamas, the Health Ministry said that there had been over 16,200 deaths and over 42,000 injuries. The ministry reported that women and children made up 70% of the fatalities, although it does not distinguish between deaths from warfare according to ABC News.