Today, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war until the end of Ramadan, which concludes on April 9th. Additionally, the resolution called for Hamas to release all of the hostages taken during the surprise attack on October 7th of last year that kicked off the conflict that has already taken over 30,000 lives. However, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly stated that they will not cease fire (this is coming from Twitter/X so we’ll have to wait to see if this is actually true).
https://twitter.com/Israel_katz/status/1772299601770389510
Interestingly, the UNSC consists of 15 member nations and yet the vote to pass the resolution was only 14 - 0. Who was missing? None other than the United States, who decided to abstain from the vote. In fact, the U.S. “vetoed” three past cease-fire resolutions brought to the UNSC, and the two resolutions our country’s delegation has put forth were vetoed by Russia and China. What made this most recent resolution different is that it met the U.S. delegation’s request for a ceasefire demand to be attached to a hostage deal. Simultaneously, it satisfied China and Russia by not outright condemning Hamas. This omission is one reason why the U.S. decided not to vote on the matter.
For those interested in the process of a “veto” in the UNSC, it is similar, in ways, to that of the power held currently by Joe Biden. Any of the five permanent members of the council (China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S.) can block the adoption of a proposed resolution outright, but there is a method to circumvent a veto: an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The UN General Assembly grants all 193 members a single vote (Senate-esque), and this specific scenario would arise from either a simple majority of UN Member States or at least nine UNSC members voting to convene. Although this may seem less demanding than having to gather a two-thirds vote from two house of stubborn politicians, it is even less common than the the latter as the emergency special session has only seen the light of day a total of 11 times (one of those being for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 1997, which has been subsequently reconvened multiple times, including in the weeks after the surprise attack last October).
As for my thoughts, I am glad to see the powers of the world acknowledge the damage the ongoing violence has done to civilian populations on both sides, and that the fighting continuing on would be unlikely to produce a decent outcome. There are talks within the UN about extending this cease-fire past Eid and even making it a permanent truce, to which I doubt will come to fruition in the foreseeable future seeing Israel’s response to this preliminary pause. Regarding this response, I am somewhat disappointed in Israel's statement (could they not at least see if Hamas leaders carry through with the hostage release?) but also realize I am not fully aware of all of the nuances of the conflict playing out right now.
For any prospective commenters:
Do you think the ceasefire will be upheld?
Do you agree with the United States abstaining from the vote?
What are your thoughts on the veto system in the United Nations Security Council?
Sources:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/25/gaza-ceasefire-resolution-un-security-council-veto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_special_session_of_the_United_Nations_General_Assembly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_veto_power#Bypassing_the_veto
Quincy Teng
1 comment:
This is another classic example of the US having double standards for their allies when it came to international affairs. One thing I'd like to clarify in your article is that those 30,000 taken were all non e other than Palestinian citizens who have done nothing to deserve the collective punishment that Israel is forcing onto Gaza, and in fact the large majority of the damage has been towards civilian population in Gaza. 75% of all schools have been destroyed, humanitarian aid workers have been killed (just as of yesterday, Israel triple struck World Central Kitchen workers who were approved by the Israeli government), and as stated before, over 30,000 civilians have been massacred since October 7th. I does make me very relieved to know that at least 14 nations are not oblivious to the blatant ethnic cleansing campaign and are for peace. For the US however, it seems that when Russia does anything close to colonial activities, they are utterly condemned for being the worst (which they are), but when Israel, another apartheid state, creates an ethnic cleansing campaign, it's all fine. (For those saying that it's self defense, belligerent occupiers don't have the right to defend themselves under international law). Either way, another instance of the US taking more disappointing and self centered action to prioritize their interests over the life of Palestinian citizens
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