UNSC resolution on Gaza aid slammed as ‘insufficient’, prompting ceasefire calls

UNITED NATIONS: The watered-down UN Security Council resolution on more aid for Gaza without calling for a ceasefire came in for strong criticism, with some describing it as “woefully insufficient” and “nearly meaningless”.

The 15-member Council merely called for steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”, and was adopted Friday by a vote of 13 in favour, to none against, with the United States and Russia abstaining.

The resolution came after several postponements and intense closed-door negotiations to work out a language that would not be rejected by the United States, the closest ally of Israel, which earlier this month vetoed a UNSC resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

While top UN officials and international aid agencies welcomed the call for more humanitarian assistance, they said the resolution does not go far enough for helping the enclave’s traumaized population of 2.3 million facing imminent threat of famine and the spread of diseases.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post on X that he hopes the resolution can improve the delivery of aid, “but a humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare”.

Earlier, the UN chief told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York that there has been no significant change in the way the war has been unfolding in Gaza, with no effective protection of civilians.

He outlined devastation that includes more than 20,000 Palestinians reportedly killed and 1.9 million people, 85 per cent of the population, forced to flee their homes.

Gaza’s health system is on its knees, clean water is at a trickle and the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of the threat of widespread famine.

“A humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare,” he said. “I hope that today’s Security Council Resolution may help this finally to happen but much more is needed immediately,” he added.

Guterres said it was a mistake to measure the effectiveness of the humanitarian operation in Gaza based on the number of aid trucks that are allowed to enter the enclave.

“The real problem is that the way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza,” he said.

He stressed that an effective aid operation requires four elements that currently do not exist, namely security, staff who can work in safety, logistical capacity, and the resumption of commercial activity.

Regarding security, he noted that the intense Israeli bombardment and active combat in densely populated areas threatens both civilians and aid workers.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed the resolution but reiterated the need for an “immediate ceasefire”.

Oxfam America’s Scott Paul stressed to Al Jazeera that aid to Gaza “can’t work while the bombs are falling and destroying houses, factories, farms, mills, [and] bakeries”.

Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), a prominent international charity, said the measure fell “painfully short” of what is needed to address the dire humanitarian crisis.

“This resolution has been watered down to the point that its impact on the lives of civilians in Gaza will be nearly meaningless,”

MSF-USA Executive Director Avril Benoit said in a statement. “Anyone with a conscience agrees that a massive scale-up of the humanitarian response in Gaza must take place without delay.”