UN General Assembly considers resolution demanding ceasefire – L’Express

On the 66th day of war, the fighting and clear bombings have intensified in recent days and are pushing the Palestinian population into an exodus towards the south, in desperate humanitarian and health conditions, while calls for a ceasefire from the international community remains very unsuccessful in the face of the United States veto.

⇒ The UN General Assembly considers a non-binding resolution.

⇒ Humanitarian checkpoints must open.

⇒ NGOs denounce the illegal use of American phosphorus in Israel’s bombs.

The UN General Assembly must vote on Tuesday, December 12, on a resolution demanding “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip. The text, which has every chance of passing, would nevertheless be non-binding. It must replace the failure of the Security Council which ultimately remained silent on Friday, after encountering a veto from the United States, Israel’s powerful ally. While it represents the greatest hope of establishing a solid humanitarian truce, it remains paralyzed and was content in mid-November, after four rejected texts, to ask for humanitarian “breaks”.

This Tuesday’s draft text largely takes up the resolution blocked in the Security Council on Friday by the United States. He “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, calls for the protection of civilians, humanitarian access and the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages. But like the text adopted at the end of October, it does not condemn the Hamas terrorist movement. An absence systematically castigated by Israel and the United States.

Deadly Israeli air raids hit the besieged Gaza Strip in large numbers on Monday. New strikes targeted the towns of Khan Younes and Rafah, in the south of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are massed after fleeing the fighting in the North. The fighting also continued on Monday in Khan Younes, where the army “dismantled Hamas infrastructure”, according to the army spokesperson. According to him, “more than 500 terrorists” have also been arrested over the past month in the Gaza Strip, where 104 Israeli soldiers have died since the start of ground fighting.

The US government said it was “concerned” on Monday after the publication of an article from Washington Post, which claims, based on analysis of fragments, that Israel used American-made white phosphorus munitions during strikes on southern Lebanon in October. Banned against civilians, phosphorous bombs are authorized against military targets. The NGO Amnesty International claimed to have “evidence of Israel’s illegal use of white phosphorus” between October 10 and 16, and called for a “war crimes investigation”. The United States is Israel’s main ally and supplier of military equipment.

The Israeli army announced Monday evening the establishment of two additional checkpoints for the inspection of international humanitarian aid transported to Gaza, at the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom checkpoints. It will then still be transported through Rafah in Egypt, the only crossing open to international organizations. “This measure will double the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said. According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA on Sunday, around 100 trucks have been entering Gaza every day since the end of a week-long truce on December 1, while the daily average was 500 trucks before the war.

Heads of state and ministers are expected from December 13 to 15 at the UN Global Refugee Forum in Geneva. War in Ukraine, conflicts in Sudan, humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan… Crises are increasing around the world, and the global refugee population has also doubled over the last 7 years, reaching 36.4 million people by mid-2023. , and 114 million displaced people, a record number according to the UNHCR. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filipo Gandi, has indicated that he wants to “tackle the problem” of the potential “catastrophic” regional exodus of Palestinians following the war with Israel.

The Ethics Committee, contacted by the organizers of the Paris Olympics, recommended on Monday the exclusion of former basketball player Emilie Gomis from her role as ambassador of the event, for having positioned herself against Israel, in a publication on Instagram. It is now up to Cojo to make the decision whether or not to terminate the contract of the Olympic vice-champion with Les Bleues in 2012, also a member of the board of directors of Paris-2024.