UN General Assembly to discuss Gaza crisis after US veto

December 12, 2023 61

Political analyst, Professor Siphamandla Zondi, says he believes the United States took a risk by going against the resolution for a ceasefire in the Middle East because Washington is one of the biggest sponsors of the ongoing war.

A UN security council meeting convened last week after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked the rare Article 99 in a bid to restore peace and save lives in the Gaza Strip. However, the US voted against the ceasefire resolution.

Calls are mounting for the reform of the UN Security Council after the US veto of a proposed pause in the war that’s claimed more than 17 000 people, mostly women and children.

Guterres has slammed the US move, saying it has severely undermined the Security Council’s authority and credibility.

Hamas triggered the bloody conflict when the group carried out the deadliest-ever attack on Israel two months ago, killing 1 200 people, according to Israeli figures, and taking about 240 hostages back to Gaza.

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, says the UN Security Council, whose duty is to preserve global peace and stability, has become the council of protecting and looking out for Israel.

The UN General Assembly is expected to meet today, where dignitaries will discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The meeting has been called by the representatives for Egypt and Mauritania.

According to diplomatic sources, the General Assembly, whose resolutions are non-binding, could vote on a text for a ceasefire resolution at the meeting.

The meeting comes as intense fighting in the Middle East has led to Israeli forces pushing into Southern Gaza.

Professor Zondi says a ceasefire is needed as the situation in Gaza is dire and has to be urgently dealt with.

The UN has estimated that that 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced from their homes – roughly half of them children.

According to the United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA, only 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning at any capacity.

While some world leaders have intensified calls for a permanent ceasefire, International Relations expert Professor John Stremlau says removing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, could be the first step to finding a solution to the war.

On the South African International Relations Minister’s telephonic conversation with the leader of Hamas, Yehiya Sinwar, Stremlau says South Africa is right to speak to Hamas leaders as they are the ‘representatives’ in Palestine – as a senior delegation of Hamas visited the country recently.