Tag Archives: UNSC

United Nations Security Council pushes to end the conflict in Lebanon

IDF Troops in Lebanon

Important Takeaways:

  • The UNSC “emphasized the need for diplomatic endeavors that would bring a durable end to the conflict and allow civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes.”
  • The United States, which has typically blocked such measures, backed the statement. The carefully worded statement did not mention either Israel or Hezbollah, but rather referred to “the parties.”
  • UNSC members expressed their “deep concern for civilian casualties and suffering the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the rising number of internally displaced people.,” Baeriswyl said. “They called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law,” she added.
  • Earlier in the day, Netanyahu said, “We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon – including Beirut. Everything is according to operational considerations.
  • “We have proven this recently and we will continue to prove it in the coming days as well,” he stated prior to holding security consultations later that night in the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.
  • For the second day in a row, he also called on the United Nations to remove the peacekeepers from the border during the IDF operation to remove Hezbollah from that area.
  • [Netanyahu] “Hezbollah uses UNIFIL facilities and positions as cover while it attacks Israeli cities and communities. These attacks have claimed the lives of many Israelis, including yesterday,” Netanyahu said as he referred to the Hezbollah drone that attacked an airbase in Israel, wounding 63 people and killing four.
  • “Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah and will continue to do so,” Netanyahu stated.
  • “We regret any harm done to UNIFIL personnel and the IDF is doing its utmost to prevent such incidents,” he stressed.
  • “But the best way to assure the safety of UNIFIL personnel is for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s request and to temporarily get out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu said.

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US fails to block U.N. Security Council resolution demanding Gaza ceasefire

U.N.-Security-Council-Meets

Important Takeaways:

  • Forty days after the savage Hamas atrocities of October 7, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire and calling for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children.” The resolution did not condemn the Hamas atrocities that started the war
  • The resolution passed the 15-member UNSC by a vote of 12-0 on Wednesday. The United States, United Kingdom, and Russia abstained from the vote.
  • S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States abstained because it could not vote for a resolution that failed to condemn the Hamas atrocities or restate the right of U.N. member states to protect their citizens against terrorist attacks. She expressed approval of the call for Hamas to release its hostages, however.
  • “What are they afraid of?” she asked of UNSC members who refused to condemn the October 7 attacks. “Let’s be crystal clear: Hamas set this conflict in motion.”
  • UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward supported the call for a humanitarian pause, but also regretted that UNSC still could not bring itself to condemn the Hamas atrocities.
  • Tuoro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust director Anne Bayefsky immediately criticized the Biden administration for failing to block a resolution
  • “The Council resolution said the hostages were ‘held by Hamas and other groups’ – not that they were raped, mutilated and kidnapped by Hamas. It never mentioned Israel’s U.N. Charter right of self-defense. It refers only to civilians ‘in Gaza’ and never in Israel. It never mentions ongoing rocket attacks against Israelis. And yet the Biden administration refused to veto it,” Bayefsky told Fox News.

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