2024-04-05T14:00:54+00:00
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/ The United Nations Human Rights Council called on Friday to stop any arms sales to Israel against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip, warning of the dangers of “genocide” against the Palestinians, a phrase that sparks intense controversy.
This is the first position taken by the Human Rights Council on the ongoing conflict since October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel.
Although the tone of the text is very harsh towards Israel, the Council does not have binding means to enforce the implementation of its decisions.
The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, Muhammad Khreisha, announced before the vote, “You must all wake up and put an end to this genocide,” indicating that the time allotted for him to speak will not be enough to enumerate all the atrocities occurring in the Gaza Strip.
“Vote for Hamas”
For her part, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Merav Shahar, stated, “A favorable vote is a vote in favor of Hamas. A vote to legitimize and encourage Palestinian terrorism. A vote to undermine Israel’s right to defend itself.”
South Africa, which is actively working with the International Criminal Court to establish genocide against the Palestinian people, denounced the double standards.
“We can no longer choose to apply a parallel international law system in Israel, nor be complicit by facilitating its actions,” said its ambassador, Mkolisi Nkozi.
28 of the 47 Council members voted in favor of the resolution, compared to six who voted against it, including the United States and Germany, while 13 countries abstained from voting, including France, India and Japan.
France’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Jerome Bonafon, explained that his country abstained from voting because the reference to genocide cannot be “included in a text the size of a resolution of this Council without a judicial authority authorized to do so ratifying the description.”
For her part, US Ambassador Michelle Taylor made statements that contained unusual criticism of the Hebrew state, considering that “Israel did not make sufficient efforts to mitigate the harm to civilians,” but she ultimately voted against the text due to “many problematic elements,” especially the lack of a clear condemnation. Hamas movement.
“Stop sales” to prevent “violations”
The text “urges all states to stop the sale, transfer and delivery of weapons, ammunition and other military equipment to Israel… to prevent new violations of international humanitarian law and violations of human rights abuses.”
The text condemns “Israel’s use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in the populated areas of Gaza” and the use of artificial intelligence “to assist in the military decision-making process that may contribute to international crimes.”
The reference to genocide was deleted in a number of paragraphs of the text, but it still referred to it as it “expresses deep concern at information indicating grave violations of human rights, in particular possible war crimes and crimes against humanity,” and at “the design of the International Court of Justice, which finds “There is a reasonable risk of genocide.”
The war broke out on October 7, following an attack carried out by Hamas on southern Israel, killing 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures.
Israel vowed to “eliminate” Hamas and has since launched intense bombardment, beginning a ground attack on October 27, which led to the killing of 33,091 people, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
“Putting an end to the occupation”
The resolution calls on Israel to “put an end to its occupation” of Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, since 1967.
It also calls on Israel to “immediately lift its siege and all other forms of collective punishment on the Gaza Strip.”
Last week, the UN Security Council issued a resolution in New York calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, thanks to the abstention of the United States, Israel’s closest ally, from voting. However, the text has not had any impact on the ground so far.
The Human Rights Council resolution does not mention Hamas, but it condemns the firing of rockets at civilian areas in Israel.
The text also condemns “attacks on civilians, in particular on October 7, 2023” and demands “the immediate release of all remaining hostages, arbitrarily detained persons and victims of enforced disappearances, as well as the guarantee of immediate humanitarian access to hostages and detainees.”
During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped, 130 of whom are still hostage in Gaza, and 34 of them are believed to have died, according to official Israeli estimates.