The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrellcalled on EU members and their partners in the EU UN Security Council to support the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterresafter invoking Article 99 of the Organization’s Charter on the Humanitarian Situation in the Middle East.
“I call on EU members of the UN Security Council and like-minded partners to support Guterre’s call. The Security Council must act immediately.” to prevent a complete collapse of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I also ask Israel to allow all UN agencies, including its humanitarian coordinator Lynn Hastings, to provide urgent assistance to civilians in Gaza,” Borrell wrote on his X account on the social network, formerly Twitter.
What does Article 99 of the UN Charter say?
This is the first time that Guterres, the UN’s top official since 2017, has called for Article 99 pointing to this “The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in his opinion, may jeopardize the maintenance of international peace and security.”.
In this sense, the Secretary General warned about the situation in Gaza and called on the Security Council to do so “urge to prevent” a humanitarian catastropheand reiterated his call for a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Likewise, Guterres has used this letter to not only denounce the humanitarian situation and the thousands of deaths in just 60 days of conflict, but also to highlight the collapse of the health system in the Palestinian enclave. “Hospitals have become battlefields”he clarifies.
“Only 14 of the 36 hospitals are even partially functional. The two main hospitals in southern Gaza are operating at three times their bed capacity and are running out of basic supplies and fuel. They are also home to thousands of displaced people,” Guterres said. .
Israel considers Guterres “a threat to world peace”
He in turn Israeli Foreign MinisterEli Cohen, has taken another step in his campaign against Guterres and claimed so on this occasion The Secretary General’s mandate poses “a threat to world peace.”.
“Your request to activate Article 99 and call for a ceasefire in Gaza represents Support for the terrorist organization Hamas and support for the murder of the elderly, the kidnapping of babies and the rape of women“Explained Cohen on his social networks.
So the representative of Israeli diplomacy assured that everyone who works for peace in the world must “support the liberation of Gaza from Hamas”an argument used by the IDF to justify its offensive against the Palestinian enclave.
This is not the first time that Israeli authorities have attacked Guterres, whom they have already accused of supporting Hamas after the UN Secretary-General pointed out that the Palestinian militia’s offensive “does not come out of nowhere.”