Palestinians pressing UN Security Council to call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

The Palestinian Authority is pressing the United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as the UN warned that the humanitarian crisis in the enclave had intensified.

“We will be pressing for as quickly as possible for a resolution, demanding an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, Palestinian Authority ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters in New York on Saturday.

The resolution would also bring “humanitarian assistance to scale” to all corners of Gaza, he said, adding that the resolution could be brought forward as early as Tuesday.

“We need to save lives, not to kill more people, and we need to stop this crime against humanity and war” as well as the “crime of forced displacement” that Israel is committing, he said.

“It is the duty of the Security Council to say, ‘we demand an immediate ceasefire and compliance by all parties, and we demand that this take place, for example, within 24 hours or within 40 hours. Or else,” Mansour said.

“The Security Council has the tools to force its will and to use everything available to it, including should not be a taboo, going into the area of Chapter 7,” he said, referring to a mechanism that gives the Security Council some tools to enforce its decisions.

He also warned Israel that Israel risked getting kicked out of the United Nations General Assembly if it continued to work to shut down the UN Relief and Works Agency which services Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Calling on Israel to withdraw

Overall he called for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines and for a two-state resolution to the conflict with east Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state.

UNSC members have individually called for a ceasefire in Gaza, including the United States, France, and Great Britain. The US, however, tends to vote against UNSC resolutions that are against Israeli interests.

In June, they secured UNSC approval for Resolution 2735 that backed a three-phase hostage deal that would lead to a permanent ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining 101 captives in Gaza.

Qatar and Egypt, which have been the main mediators for the deal, were unable to secure a Hamas agreement to the deal.

Mansour spoke as the UN said it was alarmed by the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Wennesland also called for an end to the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, saying civilians must be protected wherever they are, and “humanitarian aid must be delivered unimpeded,” Wennesland said.

“The path ahead will require courage, political will, and renewed dialogue. We owe it to the families suffering in Gaza and Israel. The war must stop now,” he said.

The international community has increased its calls for a ceasefire in the aftermath of the IDF killing last week of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

On Saturday night British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explaining that Sinwar’s death presented an opportunity for a hostage deal, according to 10 Downing Street.

Starmer “also stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza,” Downing Street said.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland warned that the “nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern Gaza Strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes, and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.

“In Beit Lahia last night, dozens were reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes. This follows weeks of intensified operations resulting in scores of civilian fatalities and near total lack of humanitarian aid reaching populations in the north,” Wennesland stated.

“Nowhere is safe in Gaza,” he stated.

Wennesland called for the release of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza, stating that “the hostages held by Hamas must be freed.”