The United States of America has urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) not to issue any ruling to call for Israel’s immediate withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, media reports said.
“Any movement towards Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza requires consideration for Israel’s very real security needs,” Richard Visek, the state department’s acting legal adviser, told the ICJ judges, as quoted by The Guardian.
US vetoes UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire amid Israel-Hamas conflict
The UN Security Council met again in an emergency session on Gaza in New York on Tuesday, where the United States vetoed a resolution put forward on behalf of Arab States by Algeria demanding “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties”.
The latest Council meeting on the Middle East crisis spiralling outwards from the war in Gaza has ended, with another US veto and an abstention on the part of the UK, while Algeria’s resolution gained support from 13 out of the 15 members around the iconic horseshoe table.
It was the third US veto of a UN Security Council resolution related to the Gaza ceasefire.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said her delegation is working on a hostage deal. Although gaps remain, the key elements are on the table, so if an arrangement were reached, it would involve a sustainable peace.
“Sometimes hard diplomacy takes more time than any of us might like,” she said. “Any action this Council takes should help and not hinder these sensitive ongoing negotiations.”
Gaza has become a ‘death zone’, warns UN health chief
An “inhumane” health and humanitarian situation now prevails across Gaza with conditions continuing to deteriorate, the head of the UN World Health Organization warned on Wednesday (February 21, 2024).
“Gaza has become a death zone,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General told correspondents at a press briefing in Geneva.
“Much of the territory has been destroyed. More than 29,000 people are dead; many more are missing, presumed dead; and many, many more are injured,” he added.
Across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, severe malnutrition has shot up dramatically since the start of the war on 7 October, from under one per cent of the population, to over 15 per cent in some areas.
“This figure will rise the longer the war goes on and supplies [are] interrupted,” Tedros said, expressing deep concern that agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) are unable to access the north.
WFP suspended its aid deliveries there due to lack of security for both humanitarian personnel and those seeking assistance.