UN Security Council agrees resolution to speed up Gaza aid – but omits call for urgent ceasefire
Gaza’s entire population is in food crisis and more than 576,000 people are at “catastrophic” starvation point, according to a new report. It’s hoped the resolution could go some way to help alleviate that sufferin g.
Friday 22 December 2023 20:39, UK
Members of the United Nations Security Council vote on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip – via land, sea and air routes – and set up U.N. monitoring of the humanitarian assistance delivered, during a meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., December 22, 2023. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
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The resolution passed after days of negotiations over the text
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The UN Security Council has voted for a resolution to speed up aid to Gaza – but left out a call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities”.
It instead includes a commitment to “create conditions for the sustainable cessation of hostilities”.
Thirteen members voted in favour, while the US and Russia abstained.
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The vote happened after America vetoed a Russian amendment to restore the call for a suspension of hostilities.
It came after days of negotiations involving the US, Western allies and the United Arab Emirates.
The vote was thrown into limbo on Thursday after the US voiced “widespread concerns” the draft could actually slow down aid.
Israel – which is not part of the Security Council – had also insisted on maintaining the lead on inspecting aid going into Gaza.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield 1:23
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US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby raised concerns the resolution didn’t condemn Hamas’s terror attack on Israel.
It was the killing of more than 1,200 people in October that sparked the current conflict.
Earlier this month, the US vetoed another resolution – backed by almost all other council members – demanding an immediate ceasefire.
The US said it would only plant the seed for a future war between Israel and Hamas.
This time, however, the Security Council crucially managed to avoid a veto from Israel’s biggest ally.
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US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called it a “strong” resolution, despite some framing it as watered down.
The resolution calls for “urgent steps to immediately allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and also for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.
Barbara Woodward, the UK ambassador to the UN, said Britain “welcomes the adoption of this resolution to get more aid into Gaza”.
“The adoption is an important signal of the security council’s commitment,” she added.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron also welcomed it and said on X that the UK “is doing everything it can to get more aid in”.
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner visit one of the kibbutz attacked by Hamas on October 70:59
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Hamas, meanwhile, called the resolution an “insufficient step”.
Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, has warned Gaza faces a “humanitarian catastrophe” and “a complete breakdown of public order”.
Gaza’s entire 2.2 million population is in food crisis or worse and more than 576,000 are at “catastrophic” starvation point, according to a report by 23 UN and humanitarian agencies.
Nearly 20,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
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Gaza
Israel-Hamas War
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