As a result of Israeli strikes across the enclave and crippling aid restrictions, nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours as a result of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
On Wednesday, the only US member of the council voted in favor of the proposal, with 14 other members also voting in favor.
Washington called for the release of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, but the resolution also demanded that the release of captives be done without making any other demands.
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea made painfully clear her country’s opposition to the resolution, which 10 of the 15-member council had put forward before the voting began, saying it “should come as no surprise.”
She told the council, “The United States has made the very clear position that Israel has the right to defend itself, including ensuring that Hamas are never again in a position to threaten Israel,” since the conflict started.
Israel’s actions “crossed every red line” of international humanitarian law, according to China’s ambassador Fu Cong, and seriously violated UN resolutions. However, one nation has shielded these violations from the public and prevented them.
Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst for Al Jazeera, said that the US veto makes it “so isolated.”
There are “so many countries” who are competing against the US at the UNSC, it’s obvious. Israel is defending its occupation and siege in Gaza, Bishara continued, “Israel is only trying to block this converging and rising current against Israel and what it’s doing in Gaza.”
“Open the crossings,” please.
Israel has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, insisting Hamas cannot continue to rule Gaza and remain in power. It has intensified its military assault on Gaza, killing and injuring thousands more Palestinians, and putting a brutal blockade there, allowing only a small amount of tightly controlled aid to enter areas where a famine is expected.
Health officials in Gaza claim that at least 95 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday and that more than 440 were hurt.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that there has been a blatant upsurge in attacks. He claimed that Israeli attacks were ongoing throughout the entire territory and in central Gaza.
Israel’s military issued a warning to Palestinians who were battling to get to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), warning that the areas would be “considered combat zones” while the organization halted aid for a full day.
Since the GHF began operating on May 27, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured as a result of Israeli forces firing at aid seekers several times.
Witnesses claimed that Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowded streets on Tuesday as they waited for food. Global outcry has been fueled by images of starving Palestinians frantically searching for paltry aid packages before being shot and then being herded into the air.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military admitted shooting at aid workers, but claimed to have opened fire when “suspects” deviated from a predetermined direction.
Reem al-Akhras’ family, who was killed in a mass shooting in Israel on Tuesday, mourned her passing at a hospital in southern Gaza.
Her son Zain Zidan, who was teary-eyed, said, “She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened.” Her husband, Mohamed Zidan, claimed that “every day, unarmed people are being killed.” This is a trap, not humanitarian aid.
Rights groups and the UN have voiced widespread criticism for the new aid distribution system, which only operates on three websites right now. Additionally, they claim that aid is militarized by the aid model, which employs private US security and logistics workers.
UN aid director Tom Fletcher once more urged the UN and aid organizations to be allowed to aid people in Gaza, stating that they had a plan, resources, and experience.
“Open the crossings, everyone,” Lifesaving aid should be available at a scale in all directions. Reduce the restrictions on how much money we can receive. Fletcher said in a statement, “Make sure our convoys aren’t delayed by delays and denials.”
The UN has long blamed Israel and the country’s impunity for preventing aid from being delivered and distributed in Gaza. The World Food Programme claims that there is no proof to support Hamas’ claim that it stole aid, which Israel vehemently refutes.
James Elder, a spokesman for UNICEF in Gaza, described the “horrors” he witnessed in less than 24 hours. Elder told Al Jazeera that the streets and hospitals in Gaza are full of malnourished children when he spoke from al-Mawasi. He noted that children were pleading for food and that he was seeing teenage boys showing me their ribs.
Since the conflict started in October 2023, the UNSC has approved four resolutions related to Gaza. The first vote on Wednesday since November 20, 2024.
After the majority of the rest were released under previous brief-lived ceasefire agreements or other agreements, Hamas is still holding 58 captives, with one-third of them thought to be still alive.
Source: Aljazeera
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