The UN resolution ignores Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967, which offered a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. The body language is that half peace is better than no peace. But even this resolution may not be implemented.
Russian President Putin’s visit to North Korea and the strong US condemnation of North Korea have diverted global attention this week from the urgent needs and measures to save Palestinian lives, particularly those of infants and young children.
Does Putin’s visit to his North Korean ally, Kim Jong Un, pose a threat to world peace? US Defense Department spokesman Pat Ryder lamented that the visit would affect peace on the Korean peninsula and the war in Ukraine, but provided no evidence to support such claims.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lamented that North Korea is supplying weapons to Russia in the Ukraine war and suggested the visit could lead to more supplies. So what? The US and its allies aren’t supplying weapons to Ukraine?
Many analysts have suggested that this visit could strengthen trilateral relations between Russia, North Korea and China. So why not strengthen trilateral relations with South Korea and Japan?
This has been followed by reports that Hezbollah is threatening to retaliate against Israeli bombing of Lebanese villages. Retaliation attacks on both sides have been going on for years. Perhaps the only news is that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah revealed, “We now have new weapons, but I won’t say what they are… Once the decision is made, they will be seen on the front lines.”
In other news, Nasrallah declared that if war breaks out, Hezbollah would also attack countries such as Cyprus that are believed to be supporting the Israeli military.
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The world’s attention should be on the United Nations for taking two potentially life-saving actions against needless deaths in the Middle East. The first was the publication of the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
The report concluded that Hamas’ attacks against Israel on 7-8 October 2023 contained elements of war crimes, including deliberate attacks against civilians, deliberate killing, and inhuman or cruel treatment of victims.
The UN body explicitly acknowledged Israel’s ongoing allegations of genocide in Palestine, a claim that was filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice on December 29, 2023. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has also sought arrest warrants for war crimes against Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the UN report determined that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report found that Israel has violated international humanitarian and human rights law and weaponized the provision of vital supplies for political gain. This includes denying food, water, fuel and electricity to the Palestinian population as a means of collective punishment, according to the report.
As a result of direct Israeli military action, the UN has lost 190 staff members, 108 journalists died, 493 doctors, nurses and other medical workers were killed, and more than 13,800 children died prematurely.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the UN report determined that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report found that Israel has violated international humanitarian and human rights law and weaponized the provision of vital supplies for political gain. This includes denying food, water, fuel and electricity to the Palestinian population as a means of collective punishment, according to the report.
It also found that Israeli soldiers have used sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon to dehumanize Palestinians.
The second major action taken by the UN was by the Security Council, which voted 14-0 in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. Sadly, the resolution is not intended to come into effect immediately, which might save more lives. Rather, it is divided into three phases. The first phase is negotiations, the release of Israeli prisoners, and the release of Palestinian prisoners. This will take place within six weeks. Within these weeks, “an immediate, complete and total ceasefire will come into effect.” Palestinian civilians will also be allowed to return to their homes throughout Gaza.
Apart from providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, Israel is also expected to withdraw its troops from “densely populated areas” of Gaza. The question is, which areas of the devastated Gaza Strip qualify as “densely populated areas”.
If the negotiations continue beyond the six-week period, the ceasefire is expected to continue.
The second phase calls for a permanent end to hostilities, the release of remaining prisoners and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The third phase envisages the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of dead prisoners who may still be in Gaza.
The resolution rejects any loss of territorial space, “including any action which would reduce” Palestine’s territory.
“The Israeli government has been trying to halt the attacks on Gaza since the resolution was passed, and has been trying to stop Hamas’s attacks,” the Israeli envoy to the UN, Reut Shapir Ben Naftali, said in a statement.
China said the draft was “ambiguous” but voted in favour of the resolution in the face of the rising death toll in Gaza. Japan, which voted in favour of the resolution, added that “the dire humanitarian situation is beyond words.”
To Algerian Ambassador Amar Benjama: “This document is not perfect, but it offers Palestinians a ray of hope because otherwise the killing and suffering would continue.”
Russia, which has veto power, abstained. Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, said he abstained because the exact terms Israel was supposed to agree to were not clearly stated. He added: “The Security Council should not agree to any agreement with vague terms… What specifically did Israel agree to?”
President Joe Biden, who had guaranteed Israeli acceptance of the peace deal, said the resolution would bring about a “lasting end to the war, not just a necessarily fragile and temporary ceasefire.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield argued that the fighting could stop immediately if Hamas agreed to the resolution, saying Hamas should know that the international community “is united behind an agreement that will save the lives of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and help them begin rebuilding and recovery, and that after eight months of being held captive, will reunite hostages with their families.”
Hamas quickly accepted the resolution, and senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri added that “the US administration faces a real test in implementing the UN Security Council resolutions and its commitments to force the occupying forces to immediately end the war.”
The resolution claims that Israel approved the resolution only hours after it was passed, but Israel has continued to launch deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip since then. Israel’s UN representative, Reut Shapir Ben-Naftali, said the war would not end unless Hamas’ fighting capacity was destroyed. He added that Israel’s objectives were clear: “To bring home all hostages, to destroy Hamas’ fighting capacity, and to ensure that the Gaza Strip does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.” Ben-Naftali added: “As I have repeatedly said in this chamber, once these goals are achieved, the war will end.”
The UN resolution ignores Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967, which offered a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. The body language is that half peace is better than no peace. But even this resolution may not be implemented.
Owei Rakemfa, former Secretary General of African Workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
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