Introduction
The United Nations (UN) has faced challenges as a global governance body to maintain peace and security in recent years. The war in Ukraine and the recent war in Gaza have challenged its conflict resolution capacity owing to the geopolitical interests of the member countries. To end the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, Brazil, Malta, and the UAE proposed resolutions[i] at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), while the Brazil resolution was vetoed by the US, the Malta and the UAE resolutions were successfully passed. The Permanent 5 (P-5) members of the UNSC did not vote unanimously in favor of the resolutions. Countries like the US, the UK, and Russia have either abstained or vetoed the resolutions due to their conflicting interests. The US and the UK wanted the resolutions to include Israel’s right to self-defense and condemnation of Hamas’ “terrorist” attacks. In contrast, countries such as Russia, China, and even France sought a permanent ceasefire, speedy initiation of humanitarian supplies, and establishment of peace and security for the Palestinians. Notably, the Gaza War has exposed the geopolitical rivalry and the vested interests of the member states that are played out in the UN. At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the resolutions were adopted with majority votes for an immediate humanitarian truce. Even though the UNGA’s resolution was only a recommendation without any legal binding, it showed that the international community was keen to implement a permanent ceasefire to end the humanitarian crisis, and that the UNGA could succeed where the UNSC failed. The ‘humanitarian pause’ that was achieved was outside of the UN, following the Egypt, Qatar, and the US-led mediation between Hamas and Israel through a series of meetings in Qatar, which was also short-lived. In this context, the paper aims to discuss the recent UN resolutions and identify the challenges the UN faced in its efforts to resolve the Gaza War.
Major Resolutions at the UN Dealing with the Gaza War
The members of the UN proposed the following resolutions that aimed to focus on several issues, such as “humanitarian pause,” “permanent ceasefire,” and “suspension of hostilities” to resolve the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
The UNSC considered three resolutions to diffuse the conflict between Hamas and Israel, as discussed above. However, the UNSC P-5 members could not take a unified approach on several issues, such as “Israel’s right to self-defense,” “condemning Hamas for the terror attacks,” and “permanent ceasefire.” The resolutions exposed how the UNSC is deeply divided and how it is ineffective in maintaining peace and security in Gaza. Besides, the two resolutions were proposed at the UNGA and gained the majority of votes in favor of a “sustainable humanitarian truce,” but they had no legal obligation.
Meanwhile, the war in Gaza continued, in fact expanded as Israel continued to carry out air strikes in northern and southern Gaza. Israel’s government was clear that the war against Hamas would continue until all of Israel’s goals were achieved, namely, to topple the Gaza-ruling terror group, secure the release of all the hostages, and ensure that there is no further threat from the enclave to Israel’s security.[xi]
The deadlock at the UNSC over the issue of “permanent ceasefire”, the mounting humanitarian crisis, and the emerging regionalization of the Gaza War, pushed Egypt, Qatar, and the US to mediate the “humanitarian pause” between Israel and Hamas outside the UN. The humanitarian pause which was agreed on November 24, 2023, however, was lasted only for a short period of time (7 days). In that period, the Israel and Hamas started exchanging 105 hostages and 240 prisoners in several stages through a ‘temporary truce.’ Negotiations over the exchange of prisoners got over as Israel and the US blamed Hamas for not releasing all the women and children. Hamas blamed Israel for neither halting the attacks nor releasing the Palestinian prisoners.
Conclusion
The situation in Gaza remains grim as the conflict between Hamas and Israel is active. The ongoing tussle between the members of the UNSC had only resulted in demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the Security Council. At the UNSC, the countries are divided between those who are seeking a ceasefire to end the humanitarian crisis of unparalleled scale and those who are seeking to root out Hamas from the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the killing of more than 25000 civilians and injuring more than 65000 in the Gaza enclave. This logjam has created pessimism that the UN is failing again to prevent the regionalization of conflict, violence, and instability, and has led to repeated calls for enhancing the effectiveness of the body and for reformed multilateralism with the reform of the UNSC at its core. The Israel-Hamas War is yet another occasion when the UN will be tested for its performance and efficacy.
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*Dr. Arshad, Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
The views expressed are personal.
End Notes
[i] At UNSC, the resolution is passed if it gets at least nine votes in favor out of the 15 member states, and no vetoes by the US, France, China, the UK and Russia, the five permanent members of the Security Council.
[ii] The former gives the liberty to the countries to continue the war at their convenience. It is a short-term arrangement to supply relief materials to civilians. The latter is a long-term arrangement that calls for ceasing the hostilities from all Parties to Conflict.
[iii] “Ceasefire vs humanitarian pause: What the difference is and why it matters,” Scroll.in, November 9, 2023, accessed http://tinyurl.com/4p3jh3ur, January 17, 2024
[iv]“General Assembly Adopts Resolution Calling for Immediate, Sustained Humanitarian Truce Leading to Cessation of Hostilities between Israel, Hamas,” UN, October 27, 2023, accessed https://rb.gy/d2j85r, January 17, 2024
[v] “Israel rejects ‘despicable’ UN resolution for Gaza ceasefire,” Anadolu Agensi, October 28, 2023, accessed http://tinyurl.com/43rrcwmm, January 18, 2024
[vi]“Resolution 2712 (2023),” UNSC, November 15, 2023, accessed https://shorturl.at/nwy68, January 19, 2024
[vii]“Why UNSC Resolution 2712 on Israel-Hamas war will be ineffective,” ETV Bharat, November 16, 2023, accessed https://shorturl.at/inMO6, January 22, 2024
[viii] “UN General Assembly votes by large majority for immediate humanitarian ceasefire during emergency session,” UN News, December 12, 2023, accessed http://tinyurl.com/yvh4ryex, January 25, 2024
[ix]“Resolution 2720 (2023),” UN, December 22, 2023, accessedhttp://tinyurl.com/ywns4k9j, January 25, 2024
[x]“Biden administration policy differences reportedly behind delay in Gaza ceasefire vote at UN,” The Guardian, December 20, 2023, accessed http://tinyurl.com/ymm6wymy, January 25, 2024
[xi]“Cabinet okays deal for release of 50 Israeli soldiers in exchange for 4-day Gaza truce,” The Times of Israel, November 22, 2023, accessed http://tinyurl.com/rcpr4cx8, January 23, 2024