UN chief slams Israel’s aid distribution ‘obstacles’; MSF says resolution falls ‘painfully short’ of addressing crisis
In an almost meaningless resolution, the UN Security Council called for boosting humanitarian assistance for Gaza as the UN chief acknowledged the “massive obstacles” in distributing aid inside the battered enclave considering the way Israel was conducting its military operations.
After days of wrangling to avert a threatened US veto, the Security Council on Friday passed a resolution urging steps to allow “safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access” to Gaza and “conditions for a sustainable cessation” of fighting.
The resolution was watered down from earlier drafts that called for an immediate end to 11 weeks of war and diluting Israeli control over aid deliveries, clearing the way for the vote in which the United States, Israel’s main ally, abstained.
Washington repeatedly has backed Israel’s right to self-defense following the October 7 raid into Israel by Gaza’s ruling Hamas fighters.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s UN ambassador, said the Security Council should have focused more on freeing the hostages and that concentrating on “aid mechanisms” was unnecessary as Israel permits “aid deliveries at the required scale.”
Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority split over the measure, with the former saying it was “insufficient” to meet the stricken enclave’s needs and defied international calls for an end to “Israel’s aggression.”
Read More: FO expresses concern over Gaza, condemns Israel’s brutality
The authority’s foreign ministry welcomed the resolution as a step that would help “end the aggression, ensure the arrival of aid and protect the Palestinian people.”
The United States and Israel, which has vowed to eradicate Hamas, oppose a ceasefire, contending it would allow the resistance group to regroup and rearm.
US President Joe Biden’s administration, however, has feigned increasing concern over the mounting casualties and humanitarian crisis that has worsened as Israel presses on with its ground and air offensive.
Since October 7, Israel has killed at least 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with violence escalating in West Bank – a territory not ruled by Hamas. More than 8,000 Gazans are said to be missing, buried under the rubble of buildings that Israel has bombed to dust.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the way Israel is conducting its operation is “creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian assistance” in Gaza, where the United Nations says the aid available is just 10 percent of what is needed.
Israel says 5,405 aid trucks – bearing food, water and medical supplies – have entered Gaza since the war started.
Read More: As the UN prepares to vote, Israel bombs the Gaza aid crossing
As per the latest casualty update from Gaza, Israel has killed 20,057 Palestinians and wounded 53,320 others in an offensive that has destroyed huge swaths of the enclave and displaced most of the population of 2.3 million. Around 8,000 Gazans are said to be missing, buried under the rubble of buildings Israel has bombed to dust.
Israel says 140 of its soldiers have been killed since it launched its ground incursion on October 20.
