UN Security Council set to vote on ceasefire resolution

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Dec 2023 08:49
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The latest draft of the resolution urges a prompt and lasting halt to the war to facilitate safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza at UN headquarters in New York on December 8, 2023 (AFP)

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote on a new resolution on Monday, urging an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" in Gaza. This move comes amid growing impatience from Washington regarding its key ally, "Israel".

In recent days, the US had blocked a previous Security Council resolution that aimed for a "humanitarian ceasefire" in the heavily affected Palestinian territory.

The General Assembly, however, saw a majority vote in favor of a ceasefire, with 153 out of 193 member states supporting it. The upcoming Security Council resolution, introduced by Arab countries buoyed by broad international backing, faces an uncertain fate.

The latest draft of the resolution, formulated by the United Arab Emirates, urges a prompt and lasting halt to the war to facilitate safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, it expresses backing for a "two-state solution" in the area and emphasizes the significance of uniting the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.

The draft resolution, criticized by the Israeli occupation and the US, does not explicitly name Palestinian Resistance Hamas. However, it does call for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and condemns "all indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

The Security Council has faced significant international criticism for passing only one resolution on Gaza since the brutal Israeli aggression began, focusing on "humanitarian pauses" with five other resolutions rejected, including two due to US vetoes.

New IOF massacres claim lives of entire families in Gaza

The recent Israeli attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza have resulted in at least 90 martyrs and over 100 injuries, according to the Health Ministry. The strikes on Sunday targeted a residential block owned by the al-Bursh and Alwan families in the town of Jabalia, as reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The destruction of an entire residential block by the occupation earlier today in Jabalia camp.#Gaza #Jabalia pic.twitter.com/AAH8iW39Vg
— Ihab Badr (@IhabGaza) December 17, 2023

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that 12 people from the Radi and Shawa families were martyred in an Israeli bombing that targeted the densely populated Shawa Square in al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.

Concurrently, at least eight Palestinians were martyred - including two children and a woman - and dozens were injured after occupation aircraft bombed a house belonging to al-Qatshan family in the vicinity of al-Nour Mosque in the Nusseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation continues its genocidal war against Gaza, killing more than 19,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children so far as the world stands idly by.