Following the US veto of a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire last week, officials and diplomats announced on Sunday that the UN General Assembly will convene on Tuesday to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The representatives of Egypt and Mauritania, “in their respective capacities as Chair of the Arab Group and Chair of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation,” have summoned a special meeting of the General Assembly for Tuesday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the Assembly president.
Diplomatic sources said that a resolution proposing a ceasefire might be put to a vote by the General Assembly during the conference, as its resolutions are not legally enforceable.
A draft of the text seen by AFP closely follows the language of Friday’s vetoed Security Council resolution, “expressing grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”
It calls for “an immediate humanitarian cease-fire” as well as the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
On Friday the United States blocked the ceasefire resolution which came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called an emergency meeting of the Security Council, deploying the rarely-used Article 99 of the UN Charter to bring to the council’s attention “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
After the battle, Guterres stated that the body’s “authority and credibility” had been “severely undermined” by its tardiness in responding.
The General Assembly demanded a “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas at the end of October in one of its resolutions.
A fortnight later, the Security Council finally voiced its opinions on the war, advocating for “extended pauses and humanitarian corridors” in terminology that was less precise than a ceasefire or truce.
