MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. The US is standing in the way of the UN Security Council fulfilling its mandate on the situation in the Gaza Strip, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
"With growing concern, we have to state that the US Security Council as the main body for upholding international peace and security is still unable to fulfill its direct mandate. The reason is US opposition. Due to the Americans’ efforts, both adopted Security Council resolutions (2712 and 2720) do not contain the key demand for an immediate and complete ceasefire, and therefore they are doomed to stay only on paper," the Ministry pointed out.
Commenting on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ January 5 report on the efforts to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2712 (adopted on November 15, 2023), which set out the need to protect children amid the armed conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry underscored that the report states directly that "its implementation is far from complete, and the prospects for progress are slim to none."
"The reason for this state of affairs is stated as well: the continued Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip," the Foreign Ministry said.
"The bloodshed in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict area is at risk of escalating into a regional crisis with a growing escalation of violence in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Red Sea. There is a threat of mass relocation of the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to Egypt and Jordan," the Foreign Ministry warned.
The scale of the catastrophe
The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the scale of casualties and destruction (over 60% of buildings have been damaged) shows, according to UN assessments, that Israel uses weapons with a wide area of effect in densely populated areas. According to the UN Secretariat, medical facilities are also being subjected to attacks: about 300 strikes, including at 94 hospitals, as well as at UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) facilities (about 200 episodes at 125 locations). At least 144 UN employees have already become victims of such attacks - the largest single loss in the entire history of the organization.
"The catastrophic situation on the ground is being colorfully illustrated by the statistics: during almost 100 days of bloodshed, the number of killed and injured Palestinians in the enclave has exceeded 23,000 and 59,000 people, correspondingly, 70% of them have been children and women. Almost 2 million Gaza residents are forced to seek refuge; meanwhile, as Guterres confirms, there are no relatively safe places in the enclave and no areas where a sufficient amount of humanitarian aid could be delivered," the Foreign Ministry continued.
The Ministry also underscored that, amid the ongoing hostilities, blockage and effective absence of unobstructed humanitarian access, people of the Gaza Strip face the threats of wide-scale famine and epidemics. In these circumstances, according to Guterres’ data, about 180 women give birth every day in the enclave.
Moscow’s efforts
Russia continues to do what it can to get the fighting to stop in the Gaza Strip, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
"Russia continues to make efforts - first and foremost, on UN Security Council and General Assembly platforms, in order to achieve an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, establishment of unobstructed humanitarian access and restoration of the political horizon in the process of Palestinian-Israeli settlement on a two-state basis," the Foreign Ministry noted.
"The Russian side believes that the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel, which included the capture of hostages, deserves condemnation, but it cannot and must not be used as a justification for collective punishment of millions of Palestinians on territory occupied by Israel - as an occupying power - in violation of norms and principles of international humanitarian law," the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded.