Guterres talks tough but there is no safe zone for civilians in Gaza

Washington/New York: There is no safe zone for civilians in Gaza! Given such a crisis, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today made a rare move to invoke Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations which states “the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.

This is the first time that Guterres has done this since he became Secretary-General in 2017. Given the scale of the loss of human life in Gaza and Israel, Guterres delivered the letter to the President of the Security Council, invoking Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations. In the letter, he urged the members of the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, and he appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared.

When pointed out that the letter doesn’t contain anything new but is bringing to the Council’s attention a matter that already has the Council’s attention, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General,  Stephane Dujarric, hoped that it may push to the Security Council and to the international community to push for a humanitarian ceasefire. “…within the constitutional context of the United Nations, it’s a very dramatic move.  I mean, we understand that the perception from the outside world may be a little different.  But for us, it is a very powerful move on behalf of the Secretary-General.  And we hope that members of the Security Council will be moved by it, and we hope the international community will be moved by it to push and put in place a humanitarian ceasefire,” Dujarric said in New York.

The United States said it will continue to consult with the Secretary-General and other members of the UN Security Council on this matter, and made it clear that concerning a ceasefire, it does not support actions that would leave Hamas in a place where it could continue to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel. However, it would support humanitarian pauses, especially if those humanitarian pauses can allow hostages to come out.

The actual invocation of Article 99 had not happened in decades although several letters invoked threats to international peace and security. Dujarric said that in Gaza the UN was getting to a point of near paralysis of its humanitarian operations in a place “where 15,000 people have reportedly already died, where 130 of our colleagues have died”.  He said the Secretary-General did not use the word catastrophe lightly and hoped that the Security Council would take his call to heed.

In yet another significant development concerning the United Nations, Israel refused to renew the visa of Lynn Hasting, who serves as the Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the UN in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and is currently in Jerusalem.  That visa is set to expire on December 20, 2023.  “We have asked the Israelis to reconsider their decision… the Secretary-General has full confidence in the way Ms. Hastings has been doing her job.  And again, we express our disappointment and shock at the targeted and personal attacks that have come towards on her.  She’s been acting with independence, neutrality and impartiality, as she should.  I will also say that the non-renewal of visas of staff appointed by the Secretary-General is inconsistent with the Charter of the UN, as well as with the privileges and immunities according to UN officials, and could also disrupt the humanitarian engagement and operations at this critical juncture,” Dujarric said.

Coming to the question of safe zones in Gaza, Dujarric had yesterday said: “Well, let’s be clear.  There are no UN-designated safe zones in Gaza.  I think all my senior colleagues have been very clear, including the Secretary-General, saying there are no safe places in Gaza.  There are shelters that fly the UN flag that are sheltering thousands and thousands and thousands of people, men, women and children who are trying to stay alive and get some food, get some water.  We have seen, since the beginning of this conflict, that those places that fly the UN flag are not safe either.”

Today the United States backtracked on its statement that the Palestinians can go to the designated UN Centres in Gaza. Matthew Miller, the US State Department Spokesperson, denied that he ever said that there were safe zones. “I did not say that there were safe zones. That is a different concept. We have seen earlier in this conflict the idea of safe zones, and what instead we have moved to and what we have supported are areas that are deconfliction sites, and there are sites that are UN-flagged facilities that Israel is aware where those sites are, Israel has placed them on deconfliction lists, and Israel is not supposed to target those sites. That is what I was referring to,” he sought to clarify in Washington. He added: “We continue to support people moving to those sites where they can be safe from harm. But again, we recognize the very difficult situation on the ground and the very difficult choices that many Palestinian civilians are having to make every day.” He further clarified: “I’m talking about – it’s not just size or – instead of, like, designated – it’s neighbourhoods where the – Israel is not conducting operations, right. You have seen them flag areas where they intend to conduct major combat operations, told people to leave those areas, go to other areas where they are not currently conducting operations. In addition to that, there are facilities – schools and other places, UN sites, UNRWA sites – where people are taking shelter. And those sites are on deconfliction lists and are not supposed to be struck by the Israeli army. That’s what I was referring to.”

Miller reiterated that there are areas in Gaza that are designated as places that are safe for Palestinian civilians, UN sites, and sites where people can go. “That should not be struck, and we expect that the Israeli Government will respect those de-confliction zones and not strike them,” he said.

However, he conceded that “Too many Palestinian civilians continue to die”. He claimed the US will continue to have very direct conversations with the Israeli Government about steps they can and should take to further minimize civilian harm.

– global bihari bureau