Israel calls Security Council resolution on humanitarian pauses in Gaza ‘meaningless’

CAIRO - 16 November 2023: A UN Security Council resolution calling for humanitarian pauses in Gaza is  “disconnected from reality and is meaningless,” Israel said Wednesday.

Twelve countries voted for the Malta-drafted resolution, with the U.S., the U.K., and Russia abstaining.

The resolution calls for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners.”

It also calls for the release of “all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children” and for all parties to “refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said in a statement after the vote that “regardless of what the council decides, Israel will continue acting according to international law while the Hamas terrorists will not even read the resolution at all, let alone abide by it.”