THE United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met behind closed doors over the situation in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, but failed to reach an agreement on how to deal with the deadly Israeli air attacks.
Requested by Kuwait and Bolivia, the 50-minute emergency session was held after Gaza was hit by the worst Israeli violence since the 2014 war. The meeting, however, ended with no statement from the council on the violence, which broke out when the Israeli military launched a commando raid against Gaza on the weekend and killed seven members of the Hamas resistance movement.
In other words the UN Security Council has by its silence given Israel the green light to go on murdering Palestinians both in the Gaza Strip, and in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s acts of aggression, however, drew an angry reaction from Hamas – which governs Gaza – and other Palestinian resistance groups, which fired an intense barrage of rockets into the southern parts of the occupied territories.
At least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli air raids and over 30 others wounded. Two Israelis also died in Ashkelon, while around 20 others sustained injuries in counter-attacks from Gaza. On Tuesday, the Gaza-based resistance groups agreed to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire with Israel.
The Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour has criticised the Security Council for failing to ‘shoulder its responsibility’ to take action on the Gaza crisis.
‘There is one country that is not allowing discussion at the council,’ said Mansour, referring to the US, Israel’s staunch ally. However, the US has an ally in this case and it is the UK.
The senior Palestinian diplomat further stated: ‘We want the Security Council to shoulder its responsibility with regard to this situation, threatening international peace and security, and it is unfortunate that the Security Council is paralysed. It did not shoulder its responsibility,’ the official added.
The Palestinian envoy also complained that the ‘immoral, illegal, and… inhumane’ Israeli siege on Gaza has led to a ‘miserable situation’ in the coastal area.
‘That blockade needs to be lifted so that the people in the Gaza Strip can begin the process of returning to a normal situation, as much as “normal” could be under occupation,’ he added.
Gaza has been under a crippling siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008. It has also witnessed a fresh wave of tensions since March 30th, which marked the start of ‘The Great March of Return’ protests. During ‘The great March of Return’ protests since they began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed 210 Palestinians in the besieged coastal area and wounded more than 18,000 people, according to health officials in Gaza.
Meanwhile, people took to the streets in different cities across Gaza, including Khan Younis, Gaza City, Jabalia and Rafah to celebrate that the strength of the resistance forced a ceasefire onto Israel. Hamas official Ismail Radwan addressed the protesters in Gaza City in front of the rubble of the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV headquarters – which was razed to the ground in an Israeli raid on Monday.
He warned Israel: ‘You will not commit a crime without being held accountable for it. The resistance’s missiles were launched from here and hit the Zionist depth. The message was clear: bombardment for bombardment, killing for killing, blood for blood.’
Similar rallies were held in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and al-Khalil to protest the Israeli aggression in Gaza.
The reality is that in alliance with the USA and the UK Israel is trying to force the Palestinian people to accept that the West Bank be part of Israel, in a ‘deal of the century’ for Israel, following the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem. The Palestinian masses will never accept this.
The fact that their resistance has forced the resignation of the Israeli Minister for Military Affairs, Lieberman, proves that Israel has feet of clay! The UK trade unions must now take action to stop the UK arming Israel by bringing down the Tory government, and bringing in a Labour government to recognise the state of Palestine. Hamas has struck a blow against Israel and imperialsim – the workers of the world must now give Palestine their fullest support!
