Gazans have nowhere safe to go, says UAE as UN rejects resolution for ceasefire in Israel-Palestine conflict

Civilians in Gaza are once again facing a “ruinous war with nowhere safe to go”, the UAE has said as it expressed disappointment that the UN Security Council “could not come together to respond to their urgent humanitarian needs”.

This came after the UN’s most powerful body rejected a Russian resolution that condemned violence and terrorism against civilians but made no mention of Hamas. The UAE, which was among the four countries that joined Russia in voting for the resolution, said Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.

A surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 killed 1,300 Israelis. Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes have claimed 2,750 lives, with Gazans in the north being told to head south to avoid an expected ground war.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said the evacuation of more than one million people “who have nowhere safe to go and no assistance” is “an unjustified demand”.

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“Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, is besieged, with no access to fuel, electricity, food, water, or medical supplies,” the ambassador said during the Security Council meeting. “Two million people are now relying on a solitary pipeline for water, as none of the three desalination plants can operate without power.”

Calling the Hamas attack on Israel “unjustifiable”, Nusseibeh said all council members have “rightly condemned the indiscriminate murder of innocent Israeli civilians and the taking of 199 of them hostage, including children”.

However, Hamas does not represent the people of Gaza who are suffering immensely today, she noted. Long before the attack, Gaza was already one of the “most desperate places on Earth to live”.

Citing the UN assessment of humanitarian needs in Gaza from January 2023, she said 1.3 million people required aid for their basic survival. “Half of those were children; almost 60 per cent of the need ranged between severe and catastrophic. In the past decade alone, Gazans have lived through three rounds of major conflict. The children of Gaza have lost hope.”

She called on the council to come together to protect all civilians, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the safe provision of humanitarian assistance.

“Access to fuel, food, water, medical aid, and other basic necessities must be fully restored. We must create a framework for rapid, unimpeded, and safe humanitarian access for the brave workers who are risking their lives today on the ground. The call for humanitarian ceasefires is essential for the realization of all of the above,” she added.

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