Gaza and Palestine were dominant themes at UN. Will it make a difference?

As world leaders gathered in New York City for the 80th General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City over the past week, Gaza and Palestine have been the main topics of conversation at the UN.

Many nations urged the end of Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the establishment of a Palestinian state during UN Security Council (UNSC) meetings, sideline events, and media briefings.

Israel killed at least 661 Palestinians in Gaza and continued to push on unabated with its ground assault on Gaza City as the majority of the world rallied around Palestine during the UNGA’s first week.

Diplomats and analysts contend that only rhetoric and diplomatic maneuvers, such as the establishment of a Palestinian state, can’t change the situation of the Palestinians under bombardment and occupation.

To compel Israel to put an end to its abuses, rights advocates are urging an arms embargo and imposing sanctions on the country.

The Hague Group’s executive secretary, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, claimed that the “situation keeps getting worse” because Israel continues to have access to weapons and resources.

“The genocidal machine’s economic might has not yet diminished. Gandikota-Nellutla told Al Jazeera, “Israel continues to receive arms.”

recognition of Palestine

Difficulty nations convened for a summit during the UNGA to support the establishment of a two-state solution, while several Western nations, including Australia, France, and the UK, formally recognized Palestine.

Protesters outside the UN complex banged on pots to protest the deadly hunger in Gaza as the meeting was about to begin.

The increasing recognition of the state of Palestine by the world’s citizens is a positive development, according to Maamoun Hussein, one of the demonstrators.

According to Hussein, “It’s a testament to the Palestinian people’s perseverance over the past 78 years of genocide and ethnic cleansing,” Hussein said of the increasing number of nations now recognizing Palestinian statehood.

However, these nations are authorized to place an arms embargo. They are able to impose pressure on Israel. Instead, the current Arab nations are in danger of extinction. Because they are changing the legal system to favor Israel, a terrorist, genocidal state, the entire world is in danger.

Israel has recently attacked Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Qatar in addition to ravaging Gaza and intensifying its attacks and annexation efforts in the occupied West Bank. A humanitarian boat bound for Gaza is also widely believed to have been struck by the Israeli military in a Tunisian port.

Gandikota-Nellutla added that more needs to be done, despite acknowledging the right of Palestinians to self-determination.

She told Al Jazeera, “The risk is that countries stop here, that nations pat themselves in the back and declare, “We’ve done our bit,” and move on without severing the material arteries of the genocide at this time.”

Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Attaf made the warning that global stability will depend on whether the international community can bolster Israel and allow the establishment of a Palestinian state based on borders established before the 1967 war at a UNSC meeting.

According to Attaf, who cited the recent UN Commission of Inquiry report that accused Israel of genocide, “there is no room for denial that what Gaza has been enduring is a comprehensive war of annihilation.”

“We are not yet there.”

About 20 000 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023, according to diplomats from various nations who have met the day after their meeting to reiterate their calls for their protection.

This suffering is not unavoidable, he said. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot stated at the event that choices are a result of choices, actions, and inaction, and that choices can change.

Brazil, Jordan, and Spain led a campaign to mobilize political and financial support for UNRWA, a UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has unilaterally outlawed, on the UNGA’s sidelines.

Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are in dire need of assistance from UNRWA, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the organization’s head.

There have been many acknowledgements and outrages, but none of them have transcended that, Lazzarini claimed.

What is the real question, then, about how much influence will be required to affect the ground situation? He continued, “We are not yet there.”

Lazzarini claimed that the Gaza crisis has reached its impasse today as a result of Israel’s “impunity,” suggesting that Palestinian lives have been “devalued” by the rest of the world.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, delegates from more than 50 nations took the podium as they left the UNGA hall on Friday.

Representatives of 34 nations gathered nearby as part of the Hague Group to discuss possible measures to stop Gaza’s atrocities, including imposing an energy embargo on Israel and preventing Israeli weapons shipments from their ports.

Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Iceland, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Spain, and Qatar were among the participants at the gathering, which included nations from four continents.

International collective action is the best way to end Israeli impunity, according to Gandikota-Nellutla, the head of the Hague Group.

Source: Aljazeera