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What happened at the UNSC meeting on Gaza’s hunger crisis?
The Israeli ambassador’s comments to the UNSC were shocking, quite frankly. If you were to listen to Danon, you would think everyone in Gaza has all the food that they could possibly need. Clearly, that is not the case.
And the independent Famine Review Committee that he attacked is a US-backed panel, and all they do is look at food insecurity. They’re not a political organisation and they don’t necessarily have a bias.
The Palestinian envoy said something important. He asked why Israel does not allow international journalists into Gaza to see for themselves.
Mansour also told the council that Israel’s intentions are clear. “Israel has decided and implemented famine as a method of war for the purposes of ethnic cleansing and to advance its colonial objectives,” he said.
Slovenia and Guyana – two of the Security Council members that called for this meeting – criticised the lack of international action.
Samuel Zogbar, Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN, said, “Stories of children in Gaza unable to cry due to hunger should force us to act now. Their silence must be deafening for their families, their doctors, their communities”. He added that “the only silence louder is the one of this council not acting to prevent the worst from happening”.
Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, the Guyanese ambassador, called the situation in Gaza “apocalyptic” and said it is “entirely attributable to the persistent violation of international law including international humanitarian law”.
Once again, US fails to follow through on ultimatums to Israel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had given Israel 30 days to abide by international humanitarian law in Gaza, including increasing aid deliveries to at least 350 trucks a day – or risk no longer being supplied with weapons, as required under US law.
By almost every objective metric, aid agencies say that, in fact, the humanitarian situation has grown worse in that timeframe.
The UN is reporting that just 30 trucks are now entering Gaza daily, the lowest number in a year.
Just a week ago, the State Department noted that Israel had not done enough. But now, citing the opening of two new crossings and the waiving of some customs restrictions in the last few days, the US announced that Israel had done enough to avoid sanctions – even without carrying out most of the specific measures it had called for.
So once again, in this war on Gaza, the Biden administration issued an ultimatum to Israel based on domestic and international law, only for it not to follow through. Though, perhaps for the last time before it leaves office.
The US is full in on the genocide, the ultimatum was merely a way to avoid inconvenient Gaza questions right before the elections.
US ultimatum on Gaza aid a ‘political ploy’ to woo voters
Tariq Habash was the first of US President Joe Biden’s political appointees to resign from the administration due to Washington’s support for the war in Gaza. He told Al Jazeera that the backtracking is no surprise and that it seems the ultimatum – issued just before the US election – was merely an attempt to reassure the Democratic Party base not to worry about Gaza.
“This felt like a political ploy that this was not something this administration was ever actually serious about enforcing. The reality is, despite missing on pretty much every single metric, we have no intention of enforcing US law,” Habash said.
“The administration is not doing what needs to be done to ensure that lifesaving aid reaches Palestinian civilians,” he added.
