(United Nations) on Thursday. The Secretary-General painted a grim picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning of the danger of a “general regional conflict” and condemning the “humanitarian hell” created by the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. .
“The Middle East is in decline. “In the last few days, there has been an alarming escalation, through words and actions,” Antonio Guterres told the Security Council, which will discuss the situation in Gaza on Thursday, then the UN.
“A miscalculation, a miscommunication, a mistake that could lead to an unthinkable, widespread regional conflict that would be catastrophic for all involved, and catastrophic for the entire world,” the Secretary-General began, specifically reiterating his condemnation. Last weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel.
“This moment of maximum danger must be a moment of maximum control,” he pleaded. “Now is the best time to end the bloody cycle of revenge.”
“Together we take responsibility for confronting these risks and moving the region out of the valley.”
He lamented that “six-and-a-half months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hell” there, “starting in Gaza,” describing two million Palestinians as “death, destruction, denial of humanitarian aid.”
“All of this is happening with significant limitations imposed by the Israeli authorities on aid to the people of Gaza, who are facing widespread starvation,” he said, once again calling for a ceasefire and the immediate fire of all hostages.
The war was sparked by an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas commandos who infiltrated from Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, an AFP report based on the data.
According to the Hamas Health Ministry, Israeli retaliatory operations in the Gaza Strip killed 33,970 people, mostly civilians.
American veto?
The council is due to decide at 5pm on the Palestinians' bid for full membership in the UN, which appears to have failed due to opposition from the United States.
“Granting Palestine full membership in the United Nations would alleviate some of the historical injustices suffered by Palestinians for generations,” Ziad Abu Amr, a senior official at the Palestinian Authority, told the council on Thursday, pointing to the US.
Admitting a state to the UN must first receive a positive recommendation from the Council (at least 9 out of 15 votes, with no veto from a permanent member), and then be approved by the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority. .
But the United States, which does not hesitate to use its right of veto in particular to protect Israel, does not hide its hostility to the initiative of the Palestinians, who have received the inferior status of “non-member state” since 2012 “.
“I think a U.S. veto is absolutely certain,” said Richard Cowen, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, who expects withdrawal from the United Kingdom and possibly Japan and South Korea.
The U.S. has consistently said in recent weeks that its position “has not changed” since 2011, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' membership bid failed in the face of U.S. opposition.
The venue for recognizing a Palestinian state is the UN. They believe no, it should be the result of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. They also insist that the US act cut their funding to the UN if the Palestinians join outside of such a bilateral agreement.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, for his part, once again criticized the simple fact that the Council was examining the request, which he considered “immoral.”
“Quiet State, what a joke! He said the UN Charter states that one of the conditions for membership is to be a “peaceful” country.
The Israeli government opposes the two-state solution, with majority support from the international community, including the United States.
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