Finally, the United Nations Security Council has demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the immediate unconditional release of all hostages after the US abstained from the vote. It may be noted that a US-sponsored “hypocritical spectacle” in relation to Gaza was vetoed by China and Russia a couple of days ago.
Embittered by the failure of its ploy, the US did not veto the resolution which was adopted yesterday; it only abstained. What is more important to note is the fact that the US abstained despite Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threat of cancelling Washington delegation.
Be that as it may, the Security Council resolution also “emphasises the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale”.
That the human misery in Gaza is profoundly profound is a fact. Nearly 33,000 people, mainly women and children, have been killed by Israel armed forces in Gaza since October 7 last year. Unfortunately, US President Joe Biden encouraged Israel to commit atrocities on the Gazans on an unprecedented scale in the entire history of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The whole world knows that the creation of Israel in 1948 was immediately followed by Nakba (catastrophe) that befell the Palestinians who were driven out from their ancestral homes and a very large number of them fell victim to ethnic cleansing by the Zionist state then led by country’s founder Ben Gurion.
It is not humanitarian crisis that has been characterizing the situation in Gaza; it is in fact the crisis of humanity in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and even the occupied Jerusalem. How ironic and unfortunate it is that the UNSC took so many months to make a formal demand for ceasefire that may or may not ultimately lead to an end to ongoing bloodshed in Gaza.
It is yet to be seen how Israel will be ultimately responding to the UNSC’s directive and the announcement by Hamas that it is ready to enter immediate process of prisoner exchange.
Mubarak Ali Khan (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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