The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrellhas called on EU members and their partners in the UN Security Council to support the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterresafter invoking Article 99 of the organization’s Charter for the humanitarian situation in the Middle East.
“I call on EU members of the UN Security Council and like-minded partners to support Guterres’ call. The Security Council must act immediately to avoid a total collapse of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I also ask Israel to allow all UN Agencies, including its humanitarian coordinator, Lynn Hastings, to provide urgent support to civilians in Gaza,” Borrell posted on his X social network account, formerly Twitter.
What does Article 99 of the UN Charter say?
This is the first time that Guterres, the highest representative of the UN since 2017, calls for Article 99, which points out that “The Secretary General may draw the attention of the Security Council to any matter that in his opinion may endanger the maintenance of international peace and security.”.
In this sense, the Secretary General has warned about the situation in Gaza and has urged the Security Council to “press to” avoid a humanitarian catastropheand reiterating once again his call for a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Likewise, Guterres has taken advantage of this letter not only to denounce the humanitarian situation and the thousands of deaths in just 60 days of conflict, but also to highlight the collapse of the health system in the Palestinian enclave. “Hospitals have become battlefields”he points out.
“Only 14 of the 36 hospitals are even partially functioning. The two main hospitals in southern Gaza are operating at three times their bed capacity and are running out of basic supplies and fuel. They are also home to thousands of displaced people,” Guterres said. .
Israel considers Guterres “a danger to world peace”
For his part, the Israeli foreign ministerEli Cohen, has taken another step in his campaign against Guterres and has asserted on this occasion that The mandate of the Secretary General represents “a danger to world peace”.
“Your request to activate Article 99 and the call for a ceasefire in Gaza constitutes support for the terrorist organization Hamas and support for the murder of the elderly, the kidnapping of babies and the rape of women“Cohen stated on his social networks.
Thus, the representative of Israeli diplomacy has assured that anyone who supports peace in the world must “support the liberation of Gaza from Hamas”an argument with which the IDF justifies its offensive against the Palestinian enclave.
This is not the first time that the Israeli authorities have attacked Guterres, whom they have already accused of supporting Hamas after the UN Secretary General pointed out that the Palestinian militia’s offensive “does not come from nowhere.”