All eyes will once again be on the United States this Thursday, December 21 at the UN. Suspended on the American position, the Security Council must try again to speak with one voice, during a vote postponed several times on a resolution intended to increase aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Council, widely criticized for its inaction since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, has been negotiating this text sponsored by the United Arab Emirates for several days. The vote initially planned for Monday was postponed several times, the last on Wednesday at the request of the Americans who had vetoed on December 8 a previous text calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, shelled by the Israeli forces in retaliation for the bloody and unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7.
“Diplomacy takes time,” commented UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Zaki Nusseibeh on Wednesday, noting that the negotiations involved, “at the highest level, capitals having weight” in this issue. Hoping for a “positive” result from these negotiations to break the deadlock, she assured that even if not, “there will be a vote”.
The powerlessness of the Security Council
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Council has only managed to break its silence once, with the November 15 resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses”. He rejected five other texts in two months, two of which were due to American vetoes, the last on December 8. The United States then blocked, despite unprecedented pressure from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the call for a “humanitarian ceasefire”.
As the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, most Council members seem keen to avoid another veto.