Israel-Palestine conflict: UN Security Council urges ‘full adherence to Gaza ceasefire’

The United Nations Security Council on May 22 called for a "full adherence" to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip pertaining to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The 11-day Israeli bombardment of Gaza killed at least 248 people, including 66 children, with more than 1,900 people wounded. At least 12 people in Israel were killed by rocket fire from Gaza.

The ceasefire effective from 2 am local time on Friday, continues despite the conflict between Israeli Police and Palestinians in Jerusalem outside the Al Aqsa Mosque, just hours after the ceasefire was declared.

Approved by all 15 UNSC members, the statement read “mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence” and “stressed the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza”.

"May Peace Be Restored"

The U.N. Security Council urged a “restoration of calm” in its first statement on the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas.  While Security Council urged “full restoration of peace”, UNSC also emphasized “achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, are at peace with secure and recognized borders.

Members of the Security Council also stressed "the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestine civilian population, particularly in Gaza."

“The members of the Security Council stressed the urgency of the restoration of calm in full and reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders”, the joint statement read.

The US previously blocked the United Nations’ body from calling for an end to the conflict, arguing that would hamper diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to help achieve a cease-fire. An earlier draft stated that "Security Council condemned all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as acts of provocation, incitement and destruction."

‘Robust’ support package - $22.5 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The Council statement offered support for Secretary-General António Guterres’s take on the international community to work with the UN “on developing an integrated, robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery.”

In their statement, the members of the Security Council said they “mourned the loss of civilian lives, resulting from the violence.”

Ambassadors also stressed “the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza”. On Friday, UN relief chief Mark Lowcock announced that $22.5 million was being allocated from emergency funds for the humanitarian response. Among the civilian infrastructure impacted by Israeli bombardment were 53 schools damaged, along with 6 hospitals, 11 primary healthcare centres, and the central COVID-19 testing laboratory. More than 77,000 civilians in Gaza had to flee their homes to seek protection.

Five out of 10 power lines providing electricity from Israel were damaged, decreasing power across the enclave by around 45 per cent. A total of 258 buildings with homes and businesses were destroyed, and nearly 770 further homes are no longer inhabitable, said the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

What is the situation in Gaza?

As the cease-fire appeared to be holding, people in Gaza were cleaning up shops and businesses while displaced families were returning home. Some of the initial assessments of what was damaged in Gaza are underway. Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs, the Associated Press reported. 

"There are two peoples here. Both deserve the right to self-determination," a leader of the main Arab party in parliament, addressed crowds in Tel Aviv. The AP news agency also quoted an Israeli author that "the battle today is not between Arabs and Jews, but between those on both sides who strive to live in peace and in a fair partnership, and those on both sides who are fed by hatred and violence.''