Gaza war - UN chief strongly urges Security Council to act on Gaza
In a rare move, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the UN Security Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.
In a letter to the Security Council, the UN chief invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since taking office in 2017. This allows the Secretary-General to draw the attention of the Security Council to "any matter which, in his opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security" and, according to the UN, has not been applied for decades.
"I urge the members of the Security Council to press for the prevention of a humanitarian catastrophe," the letter, which was obtained by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, stated. "I reiterate my call for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. This is urgent. The civilian population must be spared greater suffering."
Invocation of Article 99
In view of the great loss of life in the Gaza Strip and in Israel within a comparatively short period of time, the UN chief decided to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter, according to the United Nations. This has only happened very rarely in the history of the UN. Symbolically, the Secretary-General is thus giving his appeal greater significance. "This is a very dramatic, very strong act and we hope that it will move the members of the Security Council and the international community," said a spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
There are no direct consequences of invoking Article 99. However, it is to be expected that the Security Council will meet this week to discuss the issue and that UN chief Guterres will also be present, the spokesperson said. In addition, the Secretary-General will also communicate with the members of the Security Council by telephone and in person in the coming days.
Normally, the members of the Security Council themselves decide which matters they perceive as a threat to world peace and therefore wish to put on the agenda. The most powerful UN body has so far passed a resolution on the Gaza war, but has otherwise often been at odds with one another.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other terrorist groups on October 7 in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1200 people were killed. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 16,200 people have been killed in Gaza in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since then. This figure cannot be independently verified at present. However, the UN and observers point out that the authority's figures have proven to be generally credible in the past.
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Source: www.stern.de
