The Security Council is set to discuss on Monday a Kuwait-drafted resolution asking the UN Secretary General António Guterres to present a report within 30 days about ways and means to protect and ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians in the Palestinian territories including the Gaza Strip.
The draft resolution condemns the Israeli army’s use of lethal force against peaceful protesters resulting in the death and injury of hundreds including children medical staff and journalists.
The draft resolution stresses that Palestinians have the right to peaceful protest and calls for independent and impartial investigation into Gaza killings.
It also calls for a complete lifting of the Israeli blockade on Gaza unconditional entry of humanitarian aid into the seaside area and a new political process to settle the conflict through transparent negotiations.
Diplomats have suggested the United States would use the veto to prevent the adoption of the draft resolution.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon described Kuwait’s proposal as a “disgraceful resolution aimed at supporting Hamas war crimes against Israel and the Gazan people who are being sent to die at the border to maintain the Hamas rule”.
In a related context the UN Human Rights Council on Saturday adopted a resolution calling for the immediate dispatch of an international and independent commission to investigate the abuses committed within the framework of the military attacks against the major civilian protests that started in Gaza on 30th March.
The resolution was supported by 29 countries while two countries voted against and 14 abstained. Israel rejected the resolution and said it was “hypocritical” and “absurd”.
