At the opening, Monday, February 26, of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Antonio Guterres deplored that, despite his urgent appeals to the UN Security Council to take all measures necessary to “end the bloodshed in Gaza and prevent escalation,” it failed to act.
The Israeli offensive has left 29,692 dead in Gaza, the vast majority civilians, since October 7, according to the latest report from the Hamas health ministry, which announced Monday that 92 Palestinians were killed in strikes during the night. . In Israel, the war has left 1,160 dead, most of them civilians, according to an official count from Agence France-Presse.
In Geneva, Mr. Guterres warned of the consequences of the Security Council’s inaction on Gaza, such as its failure, due to the Russian veto, to act on the war in Ukraine. This inaction “has seriously – perhaps fatally – undermined its authority,” he warned. “The Council needs serious reform of its composition and working methods.”
The large-scale offensive announced by Israeli authorities on the southern town of Rafah “would not only be terrifying for the more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there; it would also spell the end of our aid programs,” warned the UN chief. “Nothing can justify Hamas’s deliberate killing, wounding, torture and kidnapping of civilians, the use of sexual violence or the indiscriminate launching of rockets into Israel.” “And there is no justification for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” Mr. Guterres added.
“I reiterate my call for a humanitarian ceasefire”
Amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, the United Nations’ main aid agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA) has called for action to prevent large-scale famine in Gaza. Like humanitarian officials, Mr. Guterres also stressed on Monday that “humanitarian aid is still totally insufficient.”
“I reiterate my call for a humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” he insisted.
UNRWA is accused by Israel of “collusion” with Hamas and is the subject of a very virulent campaign by the Israeli authorities and its allies. The agency is also the subject of an evaluation requested by Mr. Guterres and for which the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, is responsible. The UN, like other NGOs, believes that there is no alternative to the crucial role that UNRWA plays in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Mr. Guterres’ comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday that his country will launch a large-scale offensive that must ensure a “total victory” for Israel over the Islamist movement Hamas, whose Unprecedented attack on October 7 started the war. A possible ceasefire, currently being discussed in Doha, would only delay the inevitable somewhat, Mr. Netanyahu considers.
At the opening of this 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, strongly denounced attempts to “undermine the legitimacy and work” of the UN.
“This includes disinformation that targets UN humanitarian organizations, UN peacekeeping forces and my services. The UN has become the lightning rod for manipulative propaganda and the scapegoat for political failures,” Mr. Türk told the Council. “This situation is profoundly destructive of the common good and cruelly betrays the many people whose lives depend on it,” he insisted.
Volker Türk himself is not currently welcome in Israel, with authorities denouncing what they perceive as a bias in his services in favor of the Palestinians.
The Israeli army “presented to the war cabinet a plan for the evacuation of populations from combat zones in the Gaza Strip, as well as the plan for future operations,” Benyamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday in a statement. communicated. However, no details were provided on the modalities of an evacuation or on the locations of a relocation.
The statement also announced that the war cabinet had approved a plan to provide humanitarian aid “that will prevent looting,” without elaborating.
“I presented the resignation of the government to Mr. President on February 20 and I am submitting it today in writing,” declared Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh in Ramallah, specifying that this decision took place in particular “in light of the developments related “aggression against Gaza” and “escalation” in the occupied West Bank.
Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, many Palestinians have criticized President Mahmoud Abbas, 88, for his “helplessness” in the face of Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip and the rise of violence in the occupied West Bank.
The resignation of the Shtayyeh government comes as countries in the region, Western countries and opponents of Mahmoud Abbas are pleading for a reformed Palestinian Authority, which would ultimately be in charge of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, under the banner of an independent Palestinian state.
