UN Security Council adopts resolution, call for pause, humanitarian corridors in Gaza

The 15-member vote on the council was 12-0, while the United States, the UK and Russia abstained.

The US and Great Britain abstained because of the resolution's failure to condemn Hamas' bloody attack on Israel on 7 October.

Russia abstained because of the resolution's failure to seek a humanitarian ceasefire, which Israel and the United States oppose.

The final bill softened the tone from “the request” to “calling” for humanitarian pause and for “immediate and unconditionally freeing all hostages held by Hamas and other groups”.

The resolution, which was sponsored by Malta, managed to overcome serious differences that had prevented the council from adopting four previous resolutions.

In the October 7th attack, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 240 others hostage. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground offensive to Hamas-dominated Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of their women and children have been killed. Figures cannot be verified independently.

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, tried without success to change the resolution just before the vote, using part of a resolution adopted on October 27th by the 193-member General Assembly. It called for an immediate and sustainable humanitarian <x0 mnemonic, which leads to an end to hostilities”.

Five seats voted in favour, the United States rejected it, and nine countries abstained, failing to get approval from the minimum required by nine votes.

The ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Lana Nusseibeh, the Arab representative to the council, said its members backed the resolution, which said it would change the perception of the world that the Security Council “is indifferent to”.

“This is a first, important and delayed step”, she said, stressing that a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire needs to be followed.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, issued a statement saying the resolution “is disconnected from reality and is meaningless”.

He criticised the council's failure to condemn Hamas, raising claims that militants deliberately aimed at worsening the humanitarian situation so that the United Nations could exert pressure on Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

This will not happen”, said Mr. Erdan. “Israel will continue to act until Hamas is destroyed and hostages returned”

UN Security Council resolutions are legally binding, unlike the general Assembly resolutions, but in practice many sides choose to ignore the council's demands.

The resolution requires that “all sides respect their obligations under international law, especially in terms of the protection of civilians, mainly of children”. / VOA