UPDATING LIVE: Security Council adopts key resolution on Gaza crisis

The Security Council has adopted a resolution on the ongoing crisis in Gaza, with 13 votes in favour, and the US and Russia abstaining. The resolution, among others demands immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip. Follow this page for our live coverage... Live video feed of the Security Council Chamber. **12:14 PM** ### Resolution adopted The Security Council has adopted the draft resolution, penned by the UAE, as **Resolution 2720 (2023)** **13 members voted in favour, US and Russia abstained** Voting results on the resolution: In favour: 13 Against: 0 Abstain: 2 (Russia, US) **12:08 PM** Speaking in explanation of her vote on the amendment, **US Ambassador and Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield** said her country did not support the proposal by Russia. “We believe the humanitarian resolution before us calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” she said. “This is a strong step forward,” she added. **12:06 PM** ### Amendment fails An amendment proposed by Russia on the draft resolution failed, having received a negative vote by a permanent member of the Security Council, the United States. Voting result for **the amendment** : In favour: 10 Against: 1 (US) Abstentions: 4 **11:58 AM** **Vassily A. Nebenzia, Russian Ambassador and Permanent Representative** , questioned why is the vote constantly delayed on the UAE-proposed draft. “The answer is very simple, the US under various pretexts has been dragging out the negotiating process, deviating from the normal transparent work,” “Instead, they have resorted to their favoured tactic of gross pressure, blackmail, twisting arms, so that at the last minute, they can present the Security Council members with an ultimatum, either the Council adopts a text that is convenient for Washington or the US will block the adoption of any product,” he added. He said that the draft before the Council and being put to a vote today has been “extremely neutered”, including in its operative paragraph 4 on the mechanism that was supposed to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and ensure its monitoring. “By signing off on this the Council would essentially be giving the Israeli armed forces complete freedom of movement for furthering clearing of the Gaza Strip, and anyone voting for the text as it is currently worded would bear responsibility for that,” he said. **11:53 AM** Speaking before the vote, **Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates** (UAE) highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, warning over risks of a looming famine. She noted that the draft resolution is the “product of extensive consultations and engagement between members of the Council, and concerned parties in particular Egypt and Palestine.” “The purpose of this text is very simple, it responds with action tot eh dire humanitarian situation on the ground for the Palestinian people bearing the brunt of this conflict, while protecting those trying to delivery live saving aid,” she said. “It demands the urgent release of the hostages, and humanitarian access to meet their medical needs,” she added. **11:52 AM** Security Council Members are invited to speak in explanation of their vote, before the vote. **11:50 AM** José Javier De La Gasca, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ecuador, which holds the Presidency of the Security Council for December called the meeting to order. Egypt and Israel have been invited to the meeting, as has the been the Observer State of Palestine. **10:30 AM** Welcome to our live coverage on Friday, 22 December, as Security Council members are expected to convene at 11:30 AM (New York time) a possible vote on a draft resolution on the ongoing crisis in Gaza. On Thursday, Council members continued their closed-doors consultations late into the evening. United States Ambassador and Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield emerged from the meeting, telling reporters that after working hard over the past week, her country was ready to vote on a draft resolution, if compromises made remained in the latest draft. Follow the action at this page and at @UN_News_Centre on X, formerly Twitter. * * * **21 December 2023 / 08:35 PM** Closed doors discussions on the draft resolution have concluded for the night. The Security Council is expected to meet Friday morning, for possible action on the draft. Join us tomorrow morning for our continued coverage. **8:30 PM** The US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield emerged from the closed door meeting telling reporters that after working hard over the past week, her country was ready to vote on a draft resolution, if compromises made remained in the latest draft. Instead of calling for a sustainable ceasefire or suspension of fighting, it calls for creating conditions which could lead to a sustainable ceasefire. It also calls on the Secretary-General to appoint a senior aid verification coordinator in Gaza, and not a full monitoring mechanism. **7.15 PM** Ambassadors are still locked in consultations over the latest draft resolution and it is looking unlikely that they will head into the chamber tonight. **6:10 PM** Council members are in closed consultations on the draft resolution. **5:55 PM** It's been a day of intense activity in and around the Security Council at UN Headquarters but it does now look as if ambassadors are going to go into consultations at the top of the hour, to try and bring the United States on board with a further amended draft which it is hoped will provide new impetus to boost the flow and speed of lifesaving aid to Gazans. The last draft to go up for a vote was **vetoed by the US** **on 8 December** , which was quickly followed by action in the UN General Assembly four days later, when Member States voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, through a non-binding resolution. The Emergency Special Session of the Assembly resumed and then adjourned on Wednesday with dozens of countries making statements on the crisis. ### Avoiding another veto The Council has been negotiating throughout the week to find language which will avoid a further US veto, having first introduced a draft which called for a “cessation of hostilities”, which now calls for a “suspension” of fighting, to vastly increase access for lifesaving aid. The US argued on Tuesday and in previous deadlocked sessions that any resolution must condemn the Hamas extremist group’s terror attacks of 7 October which sparked this deadly and unprecedented surge in the Palestine- Israel conflict, and which led to around 1,200 deaths in southern Israel and the capture of more than 200 hostages by extremists, dozens of whom remain captive in Gaza.  © UNICEF/Omar Al-Qattaa A boy cycles through the heavily bombarded Asqola neighbourhood of Gaza City. Some countries critical of Israel’s offensive have argued in response that any resolution condemning Hamas, must also condemn the Israeli occupation and the thousands of civilian deaths resulting from Israel’s military action since 7 October. According to media reports, a further sticking point for diplomats negotiating the draft resolution has been the setting up of a UN monitoring mechanism which would be responsible for assessing the effectiveness of aid delivery at scale, independent of either Israeli or Hamas authorities in Gaza. ### **Situation in Gaza** Latest casualty figures from authorities in Gaza report around 20,000 civilian deaths since the Israeli retaliatory bombardment and offensive began, most of them women and children. As of Thursday there are no functioning hospitals left in the north of the enclave and injured parents stranded in facilities are "waiting to die" there, according to the UN health agency WHO. ### **Tuesday’s meeting** On Tuesday as the Council met to discuss the crisis in the Middle East in a scheduled debate, the UN Special Envoy for the peace process said the whole humanitarian system was “on the brink” of collapse, and also voiced deep concern at the deteriorating situation for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. “I reiterate that security forces must exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life,” Tor Wennesland stressed. Soundcloud

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