The United Nations Security Council failed again last night to agree on a resolution on the Israel-Hamas war.
Despite more than two hours of closed-door discussions, differences remained.
The US is calling for ‘humanitarian pauses’ while many council members are demanding a ‘humanitarian cease-fire’ to deliver desperately needed aid and prevent more civilian deaths in Gaza.
‘We talked about humanitarian pauses and we’re interested in pursuing language on that score,’ U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters after the meeting. ‘But there are disagreements within the council about whether that’s acceptable.’
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier Monday told reporters he wanted an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and a halt to the ‘spiral of escalation’ already taking place from the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen.
Guterres said international humanitarian law, which demands protection of civilians and infrastructure essential for their lives, is clearly being violated and stressed that ‘no party to an armed conflict is above’ these laws.
He called for the immediate unconditional release of the hostages Hamas took from Israel to Gaza in its Oct. 7 attack.
China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, called Monday’s meeting because of the ‘crisis of humanity’ in Gaza.
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