United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will vote today on a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. This vote comes following U.S. vetoing of similar resolution at Security Council last week that caused widespread global outrage.
What Does the Resolution Propose? Conceived as an expression of mounting international tensions, the draft resolution calls for:
An immediate and permanent ceasefire should be declared in Gaza;
Hamas must release all hostages held captive;
Israel must release all Palestinian prisoners that it detained;
Israeli forces will withdraw completely from Gaza Strip;
An international condemnation of starvation as a weapon of warfare and demand for unimpeded humanitarian aid have been issued via news.com.au, Reuter’s, Facebook and Wikipedia (with news.com.au being the primary one). Also read APnews’ coverage here & Reuter’s here
Though not legally enforceable, the UN General Assembly resolution on Gaza should pass with overwhelming support, reflecting global outrage at civilian suffering due to Israel’s continued blockade and bombardment.
See for more on this from The Guardian +15, Reuter’s +15 and StrathNewsGlobalal+15 for example.
Background and Contention
On June 4th, the US exercised its veto power at the Security Council over what they perceived were missing elements related to condemning Hamas and linking ceasefire talks to hostage negotiations – two expectations they said had already been established prior to drafting of the draft resolution. Regardless, all 14 Security Council members ultimately voted in favor, signaling a shift towards General Assembly where there is no veto power and broad support is anticipated to prevail.
Israel, too, has strongly denounced the resolution as misleading and dangerous, noting it could disrupt hostage negotiations as well as damage efforts to restore calm – reports The Guardian (..//TGI: 25.10.2016; Reuter’s.com ( reuters.com / (Trendnewsglobal.com).
Aid workers and UN agencies have reported on dire humanitarian conditions: over 2 million Palestinians are without adequate food, water, shelter or healthcare services – images showing malnourished children as well as overwhelmed hospitals like Medecins du Monde highlight its severity (The Guardian.com).
As Israel has used starvation as a weapon during their offensive and blockade of Gaza, starvation as a means of violence has been specifically rejected in this draft document.
Political Repercussions
The vote comes just days before an international conference on advancing a two-state solution hosted by France and Saudi Arabia at the UN. However, participation has been strongly discouraged by the United States due to fear of anti-Israel actions; any country going against U.S. directive could suffer diplomatic fallout from doing so (See: En.Wikipedia.Org and Reuter’s.com for examples of negative diplomatic fallout if they defy U.S. Direction). Whilst at stake is no such negative diplomatic fallout for countries that defy U.S. direction
International bodies including the UN Secretary-General and humanitarian NGOs underscored the significance of this moment as a moral and political signal, especially as famine risks increased and hostilities continued.
What Are My Next Steps for UNGA Vote Outcome: It is expected that UNGA vote outcomes will pass with broad majority, mirroring previous votes in December and March that achieved 150+ “yes” votes (facebook.com, stratnewsglobal.com and LBCGroupTV each of which garnered at least 7 yes votes each). For further updates please follow us at Facebook (facebook), Strath News Global (stratnewsglobal) or LBCGroupTV (LBCGroupTV)
Israel will likely reject the resolution publicly and urge member states to minimize or disregard it.
Humanitarian Aid and Ceasefire Progress: Humanitarian leaders hope that the resolution will rapidly reopen crossings and reduce violence, yet enforcement remains uncertain.
Diplomatic Conference : Nations’ participation at a two-state summit may depend on their response to this resolution and U.S. positioning; for more details see Reuters.com, APNNews.com and Wikipedia (9)
Today’s UNGA vote seeks to build global support for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian relief effort in Gaza despite firm opposition from the US and Israel. Whether or not symbolic unity translates to lifesaving action will depend not only on votes cast at this assembly meeting but on political will and ground level implementation efforts.