The UN Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Guterres warned of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” and urged Security Council members to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
The UAE introduced the resolution after Mr Guterres on Wednesday invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, which states that “the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.
More than 17,000 people have been killed in Gaza in two months of war and much of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
With the support of Arab and Islamic states, the UAE circulated a short draft resolution to the council expressing “grave concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population”. It said that “Palestinian and Israeli civilians must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
The diplomats demanded humanitarian access to Gaza with the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”. One UN diplomat said the invocation of Article 99 was solely the secretary-general’s decision.
“Time is up for the UN in Gaza and we must act now,” the diplomat told The National, while warning that the article was not a “magic bullet”.
The UAE intends to bring the text to a vote on Friday, when Mr Guterres will brief the council on the situation in Gaza. US deputy UN envoy Robert Wood told reporters on Thursday that the US had not discussed its text with the UAE. He noted:
But we’ve been very clear, we don’t think another Security Council product right now is going to be helpful to the situation.
Richard Gowan, UN director of the International Crisis Group, said that while Article 99 had symbolic weight, the Secretary-General could not force states to act on his warning. He noted:
This could still backfire for him. I do think it is brave of the Secretary General to invoke Article 99. By taking the risk of upsetting the US, he is sending a clear signal that it is essential to halt the war in Gaza. He’s effectively putting his own credibility on the line to try to get to peace, and that is not a small gesture.
