No terrorist organization is explicitly mentioned in the UNSC session.
Since Hamas, the Palestinian organization in charge of the blockaded Gaza Strip, attacked Israel city on Saturday and kidnapped hundreds of people, at least 1,100 people have already died.
In retaliation, Israel declared war, launched heavy bombardments on the densely populated Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians.
The United States urged the 15 members of the council to strongly condemn Hamas.
“A large number of nations denounced the Hamas bombings. Evidently, not all of them,” senior US ambassador Robert Wood told reporters following the meeting.
Wood added of the two countries, “You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,” referring to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated drastically since its invasion of Ukraine.
The UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland briefed the council during its roughly 90-minute meeting.
According to diplomats, members led by Russia were hoping for a more inclusive agenda than just denouncing Hamas.
They must reach a consensus on a statement.
According to Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN envoy, “I delivered a message to immediately cease the fighting, implement a ceasefire, and engage in meaningful negotiations, as the Security Council has urged for decades.”
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He claimed that some of this was due to unresolved problems.
United Arab Emirates said it anticipated additional UNSC meetings on the problem after restoring diplomatic ties with Israel as part of a historic 2020 agreement.
The UAE Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh remarked, “I think everyone realizes that the situation is one of significant concern today.
“Many members of the Council believe that a political horizon leading to a two-state solution is the only way to finally resolve this conflict,” she stated.
Because they are not now members of the Security Council, neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is based in the West Bank and is a political foe of Hamas, were present at the meeting.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador, urged diplomats to concentrate on ending the Israeli occupation.
“Unfortunately, some media and politicians only take notice when Israelis are killed,” he remarked.
“This is not the time to support Israel’s bad decisions getting worse. Telling Israel that it needs to modify its strategy and that there is a way to peace without killing Palestinians or Israelis is now necessary.
Three Palestinian human rights organizations said that the UN’s silence had allowed the most recent violence to occur and that this made UNSC members “complicit” in what had occurred in an open letter issued to UNSC members prior of the meeting.
The Palestine-based organizations, Al-Haq, Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, urged UN member states to address the “root causes and protect the Palestinian people from Israeli attacks.”
Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, presented disturbing images of Israeli civilians being held captive by Hamas before to the meeting.
According to clear, documented evidence, these constitute war crimes, Erdan told reporters.
