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U.S. officials have urged Israel to protect Gaza’s civilians but appear unlikely to support calls for permanent peace.
Senior officials of the United States have targeted rare cases of criticism of Israel’s conduct in its war in Gaza as the UNSC Council prepares to meet.
The meeting is expected to be held on Friday of this week to discuss a resolution that calls for the cessation of hostilities during the two months of the war. Despite Washington’s warnings to Israel, the US thinks the resolution cannot be passed.
“It remains important for Israel to put a premium on public security,” said the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in a press conference on Thursday, regarding in increasing Israeli attacks on Gaza. More than 17,000 people have died in the area and 1.8 million Palestinians have been driven from their homes during the war with Hamas.
“There remains a gap between … the intent to protect civilians and the actual results we’re seeing on the ground,” Blinken said. .
Speaking separately on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah, the President of the United States Joe Biden emphasized the importance of protecting civilians and separating the population from Hamas, including ways to allow people to move safely from war-torn areas. ”, said the White House.
However, on a call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his “unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself.” enough from terrorism”, according to the White House.
Israel says it is doing everything it can to get civilians out of trouble and is targeting only Hamas, the armed group that controls the Gaza Strip.
But UN officials and rights groups have repeatedly said there is no safe place for civilians in the region and criticized Israel’s ongoing attacks as “genocide”.
Calls for a stop are growing
The UNSC is expected to meet on Friday morning in New York to vote on a resolution that requires the immediate suspension of humanitarian work. The document was written by the United Arab Emirates, a non-permanent member of the 15-nation council, the UN’s highest decision-making body.
The renewal of the suspension was made by Arab states after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter on Wednesday. This action officially warns the Security Council of a global threat from war. Guterres, who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, should summarize the meeting.
To be accepted, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no veto by the permanent council of five – America, Russia, China, France and Britain.
The US, Israel’s main supporter, which continues to send billions of dollars in military aid to the country, has repeatedly opposed a ceasefire and rejected previous UN resolutions calling for a stop fighting.
The human rights group Amnesty International urged the US not to block the resolution.
By using Article 99, Guterres “is ringing a warning bell that needs to be heard,” Amnesty Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said on Thursday.
“(Guterres) is conveying to the world, in a very powerful way, deep concern about the emergency and the irreversible impact of the ongoing Israeli attack on the occupation of the Gaza Strip. The bloodshed and the suffering has reached unprecedented intensity and scale,” he added.
‘A monster is possible’
But critics do not believe that the Article 99 proposal will yield results when the Security Council meets.
“The US will approve any resolution that calls for a ceasefire, no matter how carefully worded,” said Ian Wilson, a professor of political and security studies at the University of Murdoch in Perth, Australia, to Al Jazeera.
“The United States has rejected 46 resolutions, including those condemning Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights. They really hate the constitution they say they marry. The US has always opposed anything that tries to contain Israel.
Ahmed Bedier, the president of the civil society group United Voices for America, said that the US has put itself “in a difficult position” by forcing the prime minister of Israel.
“The Biden administration at the beginning of this gave full support, full support for the Netanyahu government, what they are doing, and now they are trying to suppress it,” he said. “In a way, they empowered a monster and they couldn’t pull it back.”