He The UN Security Council approved this Friday a resolution to promote the sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which does not include a ceasefire due to pressure from the United States. after a week of intense negotiations. The resolution has had its approval postponed up to four times and, finally, it is approved but arrives weak.

The initiative, presented by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has had have to be rewritten several times because of the objections of the US, which has veto power in the organization and that finally abstained, like Russia. The text asks the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, to appoint a special coordinator to monitor and verify the sending of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave, subjected to constant bombing after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, on October 7.

The resolution pchose until the last moment. Just before the vote, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, proposed an amendment to recover a mention that the original text made of the need for pause hostilities to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. This phrase was replaced, after US objections, by a somewhat vaguer mention of the need to take “urgent steps” towards a cessation of hostilities.

The Russian amendment received the support of a majority of countries in the Council but vetoed by the United States. Finally, Russia abstainedallowing the resolution to go forward.

Your text “is not perfect”

In statements prior to the start of the vote, the Emirati ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, admitted that your text “is not perfect“, and that only a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will serve to alleviate the terrible humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave, where more than 20,000 people have already died.

The resolution asks the UN Secretary General to appoint a humanitarian coordinator, who must present a mechanism to accelerate the delivery of aid and present a plan in the next twenty days. The text was scheduled to be voted on Monday, but it was delaying day after day to give time countries to negotiate a language that could have the support of all capitals.

The US has already vetoed two resolutions alone twice who called for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing on one occasion that did not recognize Israel’s right to defend itself and in another that did not demand the release of all hostages held by Hamas as a condition for ceasing the fighting. Another resolution, presented by the US, to request “humanitarian pauses” was vetoed by Russia and China on October 25.

Before this Friday’s meeting, the Security Council had already met in six occasions to address the issue of Gaza, only once reaching consensus on a resolution without vetoes to call for “urgent and prolonged humanitarian pauses” in the war. Then, the United States also chose to abstain.