In a special session of the UN Security Council, the 15 members, with the exception of the United States, called for an immediate end to the worsening famine in the Gaza Strip, a halt to the war, and a reversal of Israel’s plan to expand its military operations within the Strip.
UN: deep concern over Israel’s actions in Gaza
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday evening, 14 countries expressed “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation, stressing that the famine officially declared by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip is not a natural disaster but a “man-made crisis.” The countries condemned “the use of starvation as a weapon of war,” considering it a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The statement stressed the need for an immediate, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire, the release of all prisoners, and the urgent flow of humanitarian aid. It also called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the entry of aid and to reverse its military decision to take control of Gaza City.
In contrast, the United States was the only country that refused to join the statement, with its ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea, rejecting what she described as “the lie of starvation policy” and criticizing the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, claiming that it “failed the test.”
Last Friday, the UN report confirmed that famine has become a reality in the Gaza Strip, affecting more than half a million people, with warnings that it could spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis in the coming weeks.
A war of extermination
This comes as the Israeli army continues a large-scale military operation to occupy Gaza City, concentrated in the neighborhoods of Shuja’iyya, Al-Zaytoun, and Al-Sabra in the south and east, and in the Jabalia camp in the north, causing new waves of displacement and migration.
Since October 2023, Israel has been waging a war of extermination against the people of Gaza with US support, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop the war. As of Wednesday, this war has resulted in 62,895 martyrs and 158,927 wounded, most of them women and children, in addition to 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, while starvation alone has claimed the lives of 313 Palestinians, including 119 children.
Featured image via the Canary
