Link to article- https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-un-assembly-vote-ceasefire-4d45ba3c48e42625718595da28faef52
There was a United Nations Security Council meeting Friday where the United States vetoed a humanitarian cease-fire. The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on a resolution to the Israel-Hamas war. The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. stated that he hopes to have more cosponsors for the resolution at the General Assembly meeting to reach a higher vote and pass the resolution. If the resolution were to pass, it wouldn’t be considered legally binding but they still reflect world opinion, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. The US and the UK abstained from the Security Council meeting on November 15th because they felt that the resolution did not condemn Hamas for the lives lost on the October 7th attack where there were over 1,000 deaths. The General Assembly meeting scheduled for Tuesday has no mention of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and solely expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The draft calls for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire as well as a demand the people on both sides are protected and comply with international humanitarian law.
The Security Council and the scheduled General Assembly meetings are important because they illustrate that the U.N. is not turning a blind eye to the detrimental effects of the war and the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding as the Gaza Strip continues to be attacked and the civilian death tolls rise. If the cease-fire is to pass then both sides will be able to begin recovering from the losses and start to rebuild. However, there are still those opposed to the cease-fire that may cause issues if the humanitarian cease-fire is to pass such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. The meetings are also being used to show urgency to come to a solution because the world believes that there’s a crisis and countries are becoming divided over their sides in the war. The United State’s allyship with Israel and their stance that reparations should be paid for Hamas’s October 7th attack ties into United States history. Specifically, the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers and how that event has shaped the US. It makes sense that the US is taking this stance in the Israel and Palestine war because they view that attack as unprovoked and that Hamas must be condemned.
The Israel and Palestine war ties into national security and the debate of how far a country can go to respond to a national security threat before their actions are no longer justified. Israel views that their national security was threatened and is taking action by attacking the Gaza strip but a large number of countries in the U.N. are promoting a need for a humanitarian cease-fire. The war is viewed as an interstate conflict because it’s between two states (though Palestine is a non-recognized state). There have been multilateral and cooperative approaches to the conflict on both sides. The United States and other countries have been collectively sending aid to help Israel and the U.N. (an IGO) has held several meetings to come to a solution and potentially issue a humanitarian cease-fire.