The latest UNSC resolution on Palestine
Hamas has welcomed it, but Israel is ignoring it, as usual.
Yesterday (10th June 2024) the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution, tabled by the Outlaw US Empire, calling for a “immediate, full and complete ceasefire” in Gaza, as reported on the UN web-site.
In particular, the resolution calls for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, exchange of prisoners, reconstruction, return of displaced persons to their areas of residence, rejection of any demographic change or reduction in the size of the Gaza Strip, and the introduction of necessary aid for the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Voting in favour were 14 countries, while the only abstention came from Russia. Despite the political wrangling between the Outlaw US Empire and Russia at the UN, unlike the US, Russia has not vetoed it as the US has done several times so far.
As soon as the news of the UNSC resolution came out, Hamas declared in a statement that it “welcomes” this resolution, as reported by Al Mayadeen.
Today (11th June 2024), according to Reuters, quoting a senior official, Hamas has said it accepted the ceasefire proposal outlined by the US, adding that it is ready to negotiate on the details. After the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had urged Hamas to accept the proposal, Hamas senior spokesman Abu Zuhri announced readiness and willingness to close a deal. However, the same willingness has not come yet from Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant. Blinken, on a visit to Israel, continues to say that “Netanyahu has reiterated his commitment to the ceasefire”, but no official actions or declarations are forthcoming from those directly concerned. Except to achieve the goal that, according to them, would be the defeat of Hamas when in reality it is always the same: to complete the genocide process.
In fact, today the Financial Times has reported that…
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has discussed far-reaching measures against UN agencies operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories, including the possible expulsion of staff, according to five people familiar with the matter. Tensions between the Jewish state and the international organisation have reached crisis point after eight months of war in Gaza, where bodies such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are integral to aid operations. But this hardening of Israel’s attitude was spurred by the move late last week of António Guterres, UN secretary-general, to add Israel’s military to a list of countries and organisations that fail to protect children in conflict — which puts the Israel Defense Forces on a par with Boko Haram and ISIS
…as I discussed in the article linked below.
In practice, the Outlaw US Empire has tabled a UNSC resolution just to wash its bloody hands, so that they can say “Hey, we approved several UNSC resolution, but Israel did not want to listen to us, what can we do?”
Well… for starters, they could enforce the UNSC resolution with the use of force, according to Chapter VII of the UN Charter, as they did for the Korean War in 1950-53 (resolutions 82 and 84), for the Gulf War in 1990-91 (resolution 678), for Somalia in 1992-93 (resolution 794), for Bosnia in 1992-95 (resolutions 816 and 836), for Haiti in 1994 (resolution 940) and for Libya in 2011 (resolution 1973). But, of course, the Outlaw US Empire would never allow that. This is why a week ago the Chinese Defense Ministry released a statement saying that “the Chinese army is ready, together with the Russian army, to defend justice in the world”, as I reported in the article linked below.
So, in the end, the Outlaw US Empire may try to wash its bloody hands with this UNSC resolution, but actually it is just putting itself in a tighter corner, as the next step could be enforcing such a resolution by the use of force, if Israel does not comply.