On 6 December, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to the President of the Security Council under Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, calling on Council members to take action to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses reporters at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on November 27.
The UN Secretary-General rarely invokes this provision, a move by Guterres that underscores the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that the Secretary-General of the United Nations may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in his opinion, may threaten international peace and security.
According to the Secretary-General's Spokesperson, Stefana Dijarric, this provision has rarely been invoked by the Secretary-General since the founding of the United NationsThis is the first time Guterres has invoked the clause since he took office as UN secretary-general in 2017, and the last time it was invoked by then-Secretary-General U Thant in 1971.
The Secretary-General will not invoke this clause lightly," said Dijarric, "and given the current situation in the Gaza Strip, where humanitarian action and social order are facing a total collapse, he [Guterres] feels that this is the time to do so." ”
Dijarric said it was a "significant" move and the "most powerful tool Guterres has."
On December 4, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, people view the ruins of a home following an Israeli airstrike.
In the letter, Guterres said that it is the responsibility of the international community to use all its influence to avoid further escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He called on Council members to take action to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and called on Israeli and Palestinian armed groups to declare a humanitarian ceasefire.
Guterres said that the humanitarian system and social order in the Gaza Strip are facing a "complete collapse", which will have "irreparable consequences" for the peace and security of Palestine and the entire region.
The temporary ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for several days ended on the 1st of this month, and the Israeli army resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip. Israeli ground forces attacked the center of Khan Younis, an important town in the southern Gaza Strip, on the 6th. Israel claims to be besieging a house in the Gaza Strip where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is located. It is unclear if Sinwar is inside the residence.
On December 1, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, people fled their homes after Israeli forces resumed military operations.
The Gaza Strip health department said that more than 160,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza. About 80 per cent of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip are displaced. In the letter, Guterres said that there was "no safe place" in the Gaza Strip.
The United Arab Emirates submitted a draft resolution to the Security Council on 6 June, calling on Israel and Palestinian armed groups to immediately implement a humanitarian ceasefire. The 15 members of the Security Council are scheduled to vote on the 8th.
At least nine votes are required for the resolution to be adopted, and none of the five permanent members has a veto vote. Reuters reported that it will be interesting to see whether the United States, Israel's main ally, will vote against it. The Security Council voted last month on a resolution calling for a "humanitarian moratorium" in the Gaza Strip, when the United States abstained from the vote to allow the resolution to pass.
Robert Wood, deputy permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, said on 6 June that the United States does not support further action by the Security Council at this stage.
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, said that a delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab countries will visit the United States on 7 July to persuade the United States.