Hamas Condemns UNSC Resolution on Palestine as Insufficient, Russia Denounces US for Inserting ‘Dangerous Element’ Allowing Ethnic Cleansing

Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com) — The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas condemned the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2722 as “insufficient” for failing to stop Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

After five days of delay, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2722 on Friday, December 22, calling for “unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.”

However, the resolution did not call for a ceasefire. It also failed to enforce a clear aid monitoring mechanism by the United Nations.

The delay in adopting the resolution was caused by the United States, that rejected the two main points of the original draft, presented by United Arab Emirates. That draft consisted of a call for “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” in the Gaza Strip and a mechanism of UN monitoring of aid delivered to the besieged region.

The permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzya, accused Washington of blackmailing the UNSC member states and allowing “Israel to cleanse the Gaza Strip.”

The Russian Federation abstained from voting on the resolution, considering it “toothless.” The United States also abstained so as not to appear critical of the Israeli regime. The remaining 13 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution.

Hamas condemns resolution for not calling for end of genocide
Hamas called the resolution “insufficient” to attend to the humanitarian catastrophe that the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are suffering. It also condemned the resolution for not including “an international decision to stop the genocidal war by the terrorist occupation entity on our Palestinian people in Gaza.” The movement called out the United States as being responsible for “emptying the resolution of its essence.”

The complete statement issued by Hamas is provided below:

The Hamas Resistance Movement considers the UN Security Council Resolution 2722 that calls for expanding the entry of the humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and its inspection as an insufficient step that does not meet the requirements of the catastrophic state caused by the terrorist military machine in Gaza, especially that it did not include an international decision to stop the genocidal war by the terrorist occupation entity on our Palestinian people in Gaza.

The US administration has worked over the past five days to empty the resolution of its essence, and let it come out in such weak formula that allows the Zionist occupation to continue its mission of destruction, killing and terrorism in Gaza.

The US administration by such move defies the will of the international community and the United Nations General Assembly in stopping the Israeli aggression against our defenseless Palestinian people.

It is the duty of the Security Council to oblige the occupation to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid in sufficient quantities and to all areas of the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern parts which are experiencing daily Israeli massacres and systematic policy of starvation.

Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas

December 22, 2023

Russian ambassador denounces US for allowing ethnic cleansing
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzya accused the United States of inserting “a dangerous element in the draft resolution it adopted that would allow Israel to cleanse the Gaza Strip.”

“The efforts of the US delegation have allowed the inclusion of a dangerous element on Gaza, instead of an immediate ceasefire, there has been discussion to create favorable conditions for combat operations, this is the height of cruelty and madness,” said Nebenzya, as quoted by RT Arabic.

He added that with this decision, “the Israeli armed forces will have a full margin of action to cleanse the Strip, just as they do, whoever votes on the resolution will be complicit and responsible for the destruction of Gaza.”

According to Nebenzya, the US “resorted to its favored tactic of gross pressure, blackmail, twisting arms, so that at the last minute, it can present the Security Council members with an ultimatum, either the Council adopts a text that is convenient for Washington or the US will block the adoption of any product.”

The RT Arabic report, however, did not indicate precisely which part of the resolution was called “dangerous” by Nebenzya.

The final resolution
The final, watered down version of the resolution called on Israel and Hamas to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip, and requested the UN secretary-general to appoint a coordinator for the delivery of aid.

Since the start of the Zionist regime’s war on Gaza, repeated attempts by Russia, China, Brazil, and other UN members to press for a ceasefire were outright rejected by the United States. The last such rejection occurred on December 8, when Washington vetoed a ceasefire resolution for not condemning Hamas.

According to an editorial by The Palestine Chronicle, Resolution 2722 can be considered in two ways:

One, since it failed to provide any UN monitoring or clear mechanism on how to implement it, the resolution could indeed represent yet another emasculated UN attempt at preventing the international community from taking any serious action to end the genocide in Gaza.

Two, it could also mean that Washington might be in the early stages of reconsidering its position, which has, from the first day of the war, been in total support of Israel.

An indication of the second option may be that the US did not try to include a clause condemning Hamas in the approved resolution.

It remains to be seen what the resolution will accomplish and what course of action the Biden administration will pursue in the upcoming days.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by Saheli Chowdhury

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Saheli Chowdhury

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Saheli Chowdhury is from West Bengal, India, studying physics for a profession, but with a passion for writing. She is interested in history and popular movements around the world, especially in the Global South. She is a contributor and works for Orinoco Tribune.