The UN Security Council is preparing to vote on a draft resolution on Monday afternoon calling for “establishing a UN mechanism” to monitor humanitarian relief shipments to Gaza via land, sea, and air routes.The draft demands the “immediate” release of all captives, rejecting the “forced displacement” of the Palestinian people.The UAE, the only Arab member of the Council, and in coordination with Egypt and Palestine, prepared a draft resolution demanding all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably regarding the protection of civilians.

The text calls for protecting civilians and civilian facilities, delivering aid, and protecting humanitarian workers, recalling the duty to respect and protect civilian facilities, including hospitals, medical facilities, schools, places of worship, and UN facilities.It calls on the parties to the conflict to allow, facilitate, and enable the immediate, safe, and widespread delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Strip, which requires an urgent and sustained cessation of hostilities to allow delivery of aid.

Delivery of aid

The Security Council failed several times to pass various draft resolutions, either because of the veto of the five permanent members of the Council, namely the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China, or because they did not obtain sufficient votes to approve them.Any decision requires at least nine votes without the use of the veto.

The new draft resolution calls for allowing and facilitating the use of all land, sea, and air routes leading to the entire Gaza Strip, including border crossings, including the Kerem Shalom crossing.

It also asserted the need to ensure the access of humanitarian workers and aid, including fuel, food, medical supplies, and emergency shelter assistance to people in need throughout Gaza.

Monitoring mechanism

The draft resolution welcomed the role of states not party to the conflict in allowing the free passage of humanitarian relief shipments, especially coordinating with Egypt to use the Rafah border crossing.

It called upon the UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres to establish a monitoring mechanism in the Gaza Strip with the necessary personnel and equipment under his authority.

It requested the urgent deployment of the UN monitoring mechanism for one year, which will be automatically extended for periods of one year.

The resolution also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and ensuring humanitarian access, adding that fuel should be provided at levels that meet the required humanitarian needs.

It strongly condemned all violations of international humanitarian law, including all indiscriminate attacks and acts of violence against civilians and civil targets.

The text asserted that civilian targets, places of refuge, UN facilities, and surrounding areas are protected under international humanitarian law.

It rejected the forced displacement of civilian populations, including children, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The two-state solution

Under this draft, the Security Council reiterated its commitment to the two-state solution of living side by side and in peace and security, per international law and relevant UN resolutions. 

It stressed the unification of the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the unified administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA).According to the resolution, all parties to the conflict should take all appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of UN workers, personnel of its specialized agencies, and all other staff participating in humanitarian activities under international humanitarian law.

It called for the implementation of Resolution 2712 in full, calling upon the Sec-Gen to submit a written report to the Security Council within five working days of adopting this resolution on implementing Resolution 2712 and every 30 days after that.