The US has vetoed a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, now the UN General Assembly (UNGA) must step up

Israel’s genocidal war on 2.3 million Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip was just given an even brighter green light by the US veto at the UNSC. After a 2-day delay, during which Israeli US-made bombs massacred hundreds more Palestinians in Gaza, the US veto effectively blocked the possibility of allowing water, food, medicine, fuel, and other life-saving humanitarian aid, to reach the badly battered population in Gaza. This is despite the fact that it is facing conditions of starvation and death of children and adults as a result of “severe dehydration,” as human rights organizations and UN agencies have documented. 

According to UN Res. 76/262, the US is now required to appear in front of the UNGA within 10 days and address the situation as to which the veto was cast in a general debate. 

Your governments will now have the opportunity to take a moral and legal stand defending the sanctity of international law, make a statement, and/or propose or support a legally and morally consistent resolution. As the Organization of Islamic Cooperation said in the final communique of its meeting yesterday, “double standards” by some powerful states have provided cover and impunity for Israel, the occupying power, to carry on with its acts of genocide. The UNGA will offer every state a chance to fulfill its legal duty to prevent this unfolding crime against humanity.

Palestinians in Gaza need a ceasefire now. They need humanitarian aid now. They need UN protection now. Palestinian civil society is calling on you to pressure your respective governments to ensure that:

First: The UNGA president brings the US veto to debate according to Res. 76/262 now. Every day of delay means hundreds of Palestinian lives lost. 

Second: States at the UNGA support a resolution that includes the following demands: 

1. Immediate humanitarian ceasefire, guaranteed by the UN 

2. Immediate entry to Gaza of life-saving humanitarian needs (incl. water, food, fuel, medicine)

3. UN protection for the 2.3 million Palestinian civilians trapped under siege in Gaza

4. An end to the siege on Gaza and a clear position rejecting any ethnic cleansing.

5. A full and swift investigation by the International Criminal Court into war crimes and crimes against humanity

6. Activate effective UN mechanisms to end and punish the crimes against humanity of genocide and apartheid, to hold their perpetrators and enablers accountable. 

7. A comprehensive military embargo on Israel, as was done to apartheid South Africa 

A failure to stop the genocide unfolding in Gaza would amount to a failure of  humanity at large and would signal the effective collapse of the international law system. Act now to save the lives of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and for a more just world.