United Nations – The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday voted in favor of a resolution calling for pauses in the fighting in Gaza to allow for the provision of humanitarian aid.
The 15-nation council's resolution — the first since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war — was adopted 40 days after Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel, which Israel says killed at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
The 12-0 vote was not unanimous. The U.S., U.K. and Russia abstained on the measure, with the other dozen council members voting in favor.
The resolution calls for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days" to enable humanitarian access for U.N. humanitarian agencies and their partners, as well as the "unhindered provision of essential goods and services" to Gaza.
The resolution also calls for the unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas.
Additionally, it demands that all parties to the conflict comply with international law, "notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children."
"The council's resolution is disconnected from reality and is meaningless," Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement rejecting the measure.
"Regardless of what the council decides, Israel will continue acting according to international law," said a representative, who was still in Washington, D.C., after Tuesday's pro-Israel rally. "It is truly shameful!" they added.
Speaking at the Security Council, Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador criticized the resolution for focusing "solely on the humanitarian situation in Gaza."
"It makes no mention of what led up to this moment," the ambassador said. "The resolution makes it seem as if what we are witnessing in Gaza happened of its own accord."
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador emphasized the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, telling diplomats, "Our hospitals have been destroyed. Our people have no food or clean water."
More than 11,070 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza. The U.N. estimates that some 1.5 million people — more than two-thirds of Gaza's population — have fled fighting in the north of Gaza to head south.
"It is a failure of humanity of terrifying magnitude," the ambassador said.
Before the vote, the council rejected an amendment calling for a "humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."
The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, expressed her disappointment with the council's lack of action in response to the violence and suffering in the region. She emphasized that the council's indifference to the carnage is evident both inside and outside the U.N. building.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., addressed the loss of 101 U.N. staff members during the conflict. She condemned the ongoing attacks by terrorists on Israel and expressed her concern that some council members have yet to condemn Hamas' actions.
Thomas-Greenfield questioned the motives of those council members who have not unequivocally condemned the actions of a terrorist organization that is targeting Jews. She called for a united front against terrorism and urged all council members to stand against Hamas' attacks on Israel.
