Tense and difficult negotiations continue at the United Nations Security Council in an effort to break the deadlock crippling the world’s most powerful decision-making authority – as death and despair rain down on Gaza.
Al Jazeera has learned that Malta’s ambassador to the UN, Vanessa Frazier, has circulated a new resolution among the Council members for consideration and a potential vote, hoping to finally pass a resolution on the war on Gaza, after serial failed efforts over the past month.
Malta is one of 10 elected members of the Council and has been the penholder on children in armed conflict since 2022. This position gives Malta the opportunity to play a leading role in the UNSC’s efforts to protect children in conflict zones. Diplomatic sources have told Al Jazeera that this new resolution is being drafted with a focus on children in the hopes that all 15 members of the UNSC can agree on protections for children in the ongoing conflict.
On Friday, Adele Khodr, UNICEF Middle East and North Africa regional director, said, “Children’s right to life and health is being denied.” The UN agency went on to warn that the lives of one million children in the besieged enclave are “hanging by a thread” as child health services almost collapse across the Gaza Strip.
There is renewed hope that the UNSC will finally respond to the war on Gaza, not only because there have been new attempts to find compromise language that will appeal to all its members, including the United States, but also because there has been a shift in the stance of the US itself. President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian pause to Israel’s war for the first time on November 2.
The US says it is actively engaging with the elected members – Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland and the UAE. This is significant because its veto power has been one of the reasons why several of the previous Council resolutions have failed since violence broke out on October 7.
Article from www.aljazeera.com