(United Nations) After the American veto of a Security Council resolution calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, the UN General Assembly will take over on Tuesday with a special meeting, the UN General Assembly announced on Sunday. spokesperson for the President of the Assembly.
The meeting, which will take place Tuesday afternoon, was requested by representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab group, she said in an email.
According to diplomatic sources, the General Assembly, whose resolutions are not binding, could decide on a text.
The draft text seen by AFP on Sunday largely takes up the resolution rejected Friday by the Security Council due to the American veto.
The text, expressing concern about the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip”, “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
It also calls for the protection of civilians, humanitarian access, and the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages.
At the end of October, after four failures in ten days by the Security Council, the General Assembly had by a very large majority (120 votes for, 14 against and 45 abstentions) called for an “immediate, lasting and sustained humanitarian truce, leading to the cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas.
Two weeks later, the Security Council finally broke its silence, succeeding in adopting a resolution that called for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in the Gaza Strip, not a “ceasefire” or even a truce “.
Last week, invoking for the first time Article 99 of the United Nations Charter allowing the Secretary-General to draw the attention of the Council to a matter which “could endanger the maintenance of international peace and security », Antonio Guterres had urged the Council to push for a “humanitarian ceasefire”, denouncing the “collective punishment” inflicted on the Palestinians.
“Unfortunately, the Security Council has failed to do this,” he lamented on Sunday, describing a Council whose “authority and credibility have been seriously compromised”.
On Friday, the resolution prepared by the United Arab Emirates in response to the Secretary General’s request, which called for this “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, was blocked by the United States. It received 13 votes for, one against, and one abstention (United Kingdom).