One would have hoped for a bit more seriousness from UN Security Council in its latest Gaza resolution. While the Biden Administration prevented it from proclaiming total irrelevance by persisting with a laughable call for Israel to agree to an immediate cease fire in place, there were still those generalized euphemisms in the resolution that drew attention away from Hamas as the real source of the various cited problems and obliquely directed fault for them Israel’s way as the more powerful force.
Thus, the resolution calls for taking “urgent steps for the immediate and unhindered delivery of food and other aid to Gaza to avert a looming humanitarian catastrophe”; “reaffirms its concern for the protection of civilians and disproportionate effect that the conflict is having on the lives and well-being of children, women and other civilians in vulnerable situations; and that all parties must adhere to their obligations under international law” to avoid harm to civilians.
Yet the resolution doesn’t even acknowledge that Israel is in the midst of a war of Hamas’ making, and has special security needs on its borders.
The resolution also says nothing about the Hamas practice of locating military personnel and weapons in civilian areas which put civilians at particular risk as the IDF prosecutes it war against Hamas.
Nor does it say anything about those persistent reports by the New York Times that deliveries of supplies that do find their way to Gaza are promptly stolen by Hamas and used to sustain themselves and enable their war effort. And it also says nothing about the reports, confirmed by the Times, of the vast stores of supplies Hamas has been amassing for years and which could alleviate some of the need.
Is it really Israel’s responsibility to facilitate Hamas’ hoarding, subsidize its theft and underwrite part of its war effort?
The resolution reiterates “the vision of the two-state solution.” But it does not mention, among several other critical issues, the looming presence of the virulently anti-Israel Iran which funds a broad active terrorist enterprise that spans the Palestinian world and several neighboring Arab states. Indeed, where is the resolution’s call on Iran to cease and desist? Nor does it identify who would be the authoritative negotiating partner from the fractious Palestinian world.
Perhaps most damning is the resolution’s sponsors refused to condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 barbarism. Actually, that about says it all.
