UNITED NATIONS, Oct 14 (APP): Russia has proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution on the Israel-Palestinian conflict that calls for a ceasefire, and an “unimpeded” provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance to embattled Gaza.
The draft, which was circulated on Friday evening at a closed-door meeting of the 15-member Council on the conflict, also condemns violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism, according to a draft.
The move comes after several countries urged Israel to hold off attacking northern Gaza, where more than a million civilians largely defied an Israeli order to evacuate before its occupation forces carry out their announced plans to completely destroy the Hamas movement.
Diplomats emerging from the meeting declined comments on draft resolution, saying they have to study it closely and would respond by Saturday afternoon.
But experts see very little chance of its adoption by the Council, as the United States, Israel’s closest ally, has declared its opposition to any call for a ceasefire and demanded that the Council explicitly condemn Hamas, which is not mention in the text.
The one-page draft resolution strongly condemns all violence and acts of terrorism, “in particular the resulting heavy civilian casualties; and emphasizing that the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population must be protected”.
It states that a “lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means” on the basis of UN resolutions.
The text also calls for the secure release of all hostages.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told reporters after the meeting that the escalation of the situation on the ground was extremely worrying and appalling, warning that the region is on the brink of a full-scale war and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
“What happened on Israeli territory on Oct. 7 is unacceptable”, he said, adding that Israel has the right to defend itself.
But he added that Israel’s “collective punishment” and “indiscriminate shelling of civilian area” is also unacceptable.
Ambassador Nebenzya said the U.S. ignores the context that led to Hamas’ attack and said the U.S. to a “large extent” is to blame for what happened .
“As you could have noticed, not a single western delegation called for an open meeting on the situation in the Middle East, while they use every fake pretext to call for the discussions of the situation in Ukraine for various political reasons,” he said.
He added that “Russia can’t accept the complete inaction of the Security Council.”
Ahead of the session, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the situation in Gaza has reached a “dangerous new low”.
“We need immediate humanitarian access throughout Gaza so that we can get fuel, food and water to everyone in need,” he said.
Earlier, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour appealed to the UN chief to do more to stop a “crime against humanity” by Israel, which has ordered nearly half of the population of the Gaza Strip to relocate ahead of a possible invasion.
“Whatever was done was not sufficient,” he said. “We need all of us to do more to stop this crime against humanity.”
Speaking in a UN General Assembly committee, Pakistan called as “unacceptable” the collective punishment of Gaza’s entire Palestinian population by Israeli Occupation forces, saying it amounts to “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
APP/ift