Member States of the United Nations must use all measures at their disposal and their influence to promote an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, UN human rights experts* said, issuing a clarion call for peace ahead of a crucial Security Council vote in New York today.
“UN Member States must mobilise now and act collectively to save Gaza from total destruction and mass mortality, in order to preserve the raison d’être of the United Nations,” the experts said. “Member states must act at the Security Council or the General Assembly as applicable, to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” they said.
The UN experts welcomed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ letter to the UN Security Council, based on Article 99 of the United Nations Charter, calling on the Council to take urgent action to avert a total collapse of public order and the humanitarian system in Gaza.
“We extend our fullest support to Secretary-General Guterres, as he assumes greater leadership in the effort to end the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza,” the experts said.
UN humanitarian agencies sounded the alarm this week that the situation in Gaza was ‘apocalyptic.’
The experts deplored the collapse of the temporary humanitarian ceasefire and the resumption of Israel’s large-scale military operations in Gaza on 1 December. Over the past seven days, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, increasing the total number of Palestinian fatalities since the start of hostilities to above 17,000. Seventy percent of those killed in the violence are reportedly women and children. Relentless military operations and ever-expanding evacuation orders have displaced 85 percent of Gaza’s population. “These actions could possibly amount to the forcible transfer of a population – a crime against humanity,” the experts said.
The Israeli military’s massive bombardment, in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law, has not spared hospitals, schools, refugee camps, residential buildings, markets and religious establishments, where civilians should be safe and protected from indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. The experts expressed alarm that the entry and provision of humanitarian aid has dwindled since the resumption of hostilities, due to shortages in basic supplies, lack of fuel, disrupted communications, movement restrictions and severe insecurity in the besieged Gaza strip. They suggested that such actions could be tantamount to collective punishment, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
“In the short term, a ceasefire is an essential precondition for urgently stabilising the humanitarian situation in Gaza. To ensure the basic safety and needs of the civilian population, especially women and children in Gaza in the longer term, consultations and preparations must now be launched towards the deployment of an international protective presence in the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory under the supervision of the UN,” the experts said. They called for the support and inclusion of Palestinian civil society, as an integral part of any decision-making to ensure the needs of affected communities are taken into account.
“UN Member States must do all that they can to end the epic suffering in Gaza and restore international peace and security, before we reach a point of no-return,” the experts warned.