DLNews World at War:

Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, invoked the seldom-used Article 99 of the UN Charter to implore the Security Council to take decisive action against a situation he deemed a critical threat to international peace and security. Guterres's plea for action was prompted by a concerning threat that he believed required expeditious and effective measures from the Security Council. Notably, this is the first instance he has exercised this authority since becoming the chief UN diplomat in 2017.

This text, sponsored by over 100 nations - including ambassadors from the United States, Japan, France, Australia, Greece, the Philippines, Germany, Romania, and the UK - was an unprecedented bipartisan effort among members of the 15-nation body. The text includes an appeal against Israel's campaign that has killed 17,400 Palestinians in Gaza while leaving millions without power or running water; further, it urges all parties involved to cooperate with UN agencies working towards alleviating this crisis as Hamas has been accused of inflicting the most significant suffering on civilians.

Last week, the United States, the only permanent member of the Security Council, along with China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France, used their power as permanent members to vote against an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. This decision has been met with widespread criticism as it is feared that it could lead to more civilian casualties and destruction as the conflict enters its third month. The vote count was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining from voting.

Diplomats involved in the negotiations had anticipated that the resolution would have continued the same course of the conflict. However, some have criticized the US veto for making the Security Council look isolated and powerless to act.

UAE Deputy Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab publicly criticized the veto via a social media post. He wrote on X that the decision appeared to be untethered from its mandate and seemed to condone the continuation of civilian bloodshed, the collapse of the humanitarian system, and even worse horrors to come.

Ambassador Nicolas De Rivière of France, a veto-wielding permanent council member who supported the resolution, lamented its lack of unity and pleaded “for a new, immediate and lasting humanitarian truce that should lead to a sustainable cease-fire.”

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky called the vote “one of the darkest days in the history of the Middle East” and accused the United States of issuing “a death sentence to thousands, if not tens of thousands more civilians in Palestine and Israel, including women and children.”

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called the resolution “imbalanced”. He criticized the council for failing to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel. Militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself. He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.”