UNSC rejects Russian resolution for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Oct 2023 05:39
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The Russian-proposed resolution receives four votes in favor, five against, and six abstentions.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, right, raises his hand in favor of a Russia-backed resolution regarding the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during a session of the UN Security Council at United Nations headquarters Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

The UN Security Council voted to reject a Russia-proposed draft resolution to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The resolution on Monday received four votes in favor, five against, and six abstentions.

"We regret that the council once again has found itself a hostage to the ego, to the selfish intentions of the Western bloc of countries," Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after the vote.

Following other states' draft resolution proposals, the Russian mission to the United Nations included amendments to its resolution to condemn the indiscriminate Israeli strikes against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and call for a humanitarian ceasefire amid the dire situation for the civilians there.

Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said the council had a moral duty to act in a bid to end the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip he said was claiming 12 lives every hour.

"Don't send the signal that the Palestinian lives don't matter," Mansour said, adding, "Don't dare say Israel is not responsible for the bombs it is dropping over their heads."

The Palestinian envoy made it clear that "what is happening in Gaza is not a military operation. It is a full scale assault against our people. It is massacres against innocent civilians."

The Israeli occupation has cut off supplies of water and power to the already-besieged Gaza Strip. The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees has warned that the Strip faces an "unprecedented human catastrophe" if water and other vital supplies are not restored.

Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has reached more than 2,700 martyrs, with around 10,000 injuries.

In the same context, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stated that "Israel's relentless aerial and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip have turned it into a hellhole where death and destruction prevail in extremely complex humanitarian conditions, without any basic life services."

In a report published on its website, the Monitor said it documented the killing of at least 14 Palestinians every hour on the eighth day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, which included the dropping of more than 6,000 bombs on the densely populated area of over two million people, equivalent to a quarter of a nuclear bomb.

The Monitor pointed out that civilians in Gaza are without shelter and are moving from one death to another in inhumane conditions.

It added that basic services like electricity, water, communications, and internet have been disrupted, causing unprecedented and critically dangerous food insecurity.

According to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli occupation "continues to intensify its airstrikes and artillery attacks all over the Gaza Strip, including the complete destruction of residential neighborhoods, resulting in the annihilation of at least 82 families in horrific collective killings."

The Monitor highlighted that "Israel's attacks also caused destruction to at least 71 schools, the destruction of 145 industrial facilities, 61 media headquarters, the demolition of 18 mosques, and the damage to dozens of ancient churches and mosques."

The report said that the Israeli aggression on the Strip led to "the displacement of over 820,000 individuals to UN-affiliated schools, governmental schools, and the homes of relatives and neighbors."

It added that "more than 450,000 people were displaced after their homes were destroyed or damaged in Israeli air raids."

"In the absence of a safe haven, tens of thousands of civilians sought refuge in hospitals to protect themselves from Israel's attacks, with over 35,000 people taking shelter in the Shifa Medical Complex alone."

The report stressed that evacuation notices for civilians in Gaza were issued without announcing a cessation of airstrikes or aerial attacks, and without any safety or return guarantees.

This, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, amounts to a war crime of forced displacement.