New Delhi: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written a direct appeal on the situation in Gaza to the UN Security Council, a rare step invoking a little-used article of the UN Charter.
“We are facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system. The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region,” Guterres wrote in a letter to the 15-member Council.
“Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs,” he said.
Guterres invoked, for the first time since he took office in 2017, Article 99 of the UN Charter. This states that “the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
He focused in particular on the difficulties in delivering aid and providing health care to people in the enclave.
“The current conditions are making it impossible for meaningful humanitarian operations to be conducted,” the letter said, adding that “nowhere is safe in Gaza.”
He pushed for the establishment of a humanitarian cease-fire.
“With a humanitarian cease-fire, the means of survival can be restored, and humanitarian assistance can be delivered in a safe and timely manner across the Gaza Strip,” Guterres wrote.
The Security Council, currently chaired by Ecuador, has held several sessions on the conflict in Gaza since Hamas group’s October 7 attacks in Israel that killed 1,200 people with 240 more taken hostage. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has since killed more than 13 times that number of Palestinians – 16,015, according to the Gaza health ministry. In addition to the direct bombings and violence, people in Gaza are also facing an acute humanitarian crisis, with a shortage of food, water and basic healthcare.
However, with the US and UK both permanent members with veto rights and a typically supportive stance towards Israel, the body has struggled to agree on very far-reaching statements or appeals about the conflict – not even a call for ceasefire.
In November, after four draft texts were rejected, the Security Council did issue an appeal for “extended humanitarian pauses” in the Gaza Strip.
According to Reuters, the United Arab Emirates has given the security council a brief draft resolution that would act on Guterres’ letter by demanding an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. The UAE reportedly aims to put the text to a vote on Friday, when the council is due to be briefed by Guterres on Gaza.
With inputs from DW.