UNSC discusses escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but takes no action

New York: An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council has failed to take any action to deal with the raging Middle East conflict sparked off by a surprise Palestinian fighters’ assault on Israeli border towns as Israel responded with deadly air strikes on Gaza, raising the death toll to 1,100.

According to diplomats, the United States demanded that the 15 Council members issue a statement strongly condemning “these heinous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas,” but not all members agreed with the call.

Unanimity is needed for the U.N. Security Council to produce a statement. After the closed-door meeting, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that “a good number of countries” did condemn the Hamas attack but not all council members. He told reporters they could probably figure out one of them.

Sources said the Security Council did not consider any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas. “My message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades” by the Security Council, said Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.

“This is partly the result of unresolved issues,” he said. China said it would support a joint statement. “It’s abnormal that the Security Council doesn’t say anything,” Ambassador Zhang Jun said, who earlier promised Chinese support for a condemnation of “all attacks against civilians.” “What’s really important is to prevent the further escalation of the situation and further casualties of civilians,” Zhang said.

“What’s also important is really to come back to the two-state solution.” The Council met for about 90 minutes and heard a briefing from the UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland. The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel as part of a landmark 2020 deal, said it expected more UNSC meetings on the crisis.

“I think everyone understands that today, the situation is one of grave concern,” said the UAE Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh. “Many members of the Council believe that a political horizon leading to a two-state solution is the only way to finally solve this conflict,” she said. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour called on diplomats to focus on ending the Israeli occupation.

“Regrettably, history for some media and politicians starts when Israelis are killed,” he said. “This is not a time to let Israel double down on its terrible choices. This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course, that there is a path to peace where neither Palestinians nor Israelis are killed.”

In an open letter sent to UNSC members ahead of the meeting, three Palestinian human rights organizations said the UN’s inaction had enabled the latest violence and meant its members were “complicit” in what had happened.

The Palestine-based organisations – Al-Haq, Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – called on UN member states to address the “root causes and protect the Palestinian people from Israeli attacks”.