• Guterres invokes rarely-used article to place Gaza situation before UNSC to prevent catastrophe
• Rights official sees high risk of ‘crimes against humanity’
• Refugee chief opposes exodus of Palestinians to other countries

GENEVA: Senior humani­­tarian officials from the United Nations stuggled to put into words the horrors and suffering unfolding in the Gaza Strip, using extremely tough language to describe the “atrocities” being committed by Israel.

Invoking the rarely-used Article 99 of the UN charter, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the head of the Security Council, saying that he expects “public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions” in Gaza.

The article allows the UN chief to bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in his opinion, may threa­ten the maintenance of international peace and security.

The humanitarian conditions are “fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole, he demanded that “such an outcome must be avoided at all costs”.

This is the first time the UN chief has invoked the article since taking office in 2017. The rotating presidency of the Security Council is currently held by Ecuador.

Urging the members of the Security Council to “press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” Guterres reiterated his appeal for “a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared.” “The health care system in Gaza is collapsing,” he said, adding that “there is no effective protection of civilians.” “The current conditions are making it impossible for meaningful humanitarian operations to be conducted,” the letter said, adding that “nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

‘Apocalyptic’ situation

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living in “utter, deepening horror”, the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday, as he called for an urgent ceasefire.

Volker Turk said that in such “apocalyptic” humani­tarian circumstances, there was a high risk of atrocity crimes being committed.

According to the UN, the term “atrocity crimes” refers to the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as defined by international treaties.

“Civilians in Gaza continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished — suffering death, siege, destruction and deprivation of the most essential human needs such as food, water, lifesaving medical supplies and other essentials on a massive scale,” he told a press conference.

International aid groups have condemned the succession of orders to flee from one area to another, saying civilians were running out of options.

Israel’s army has published a map it said was intended to enable Gazans to “evacuate from specific places for their safety if required”.

“Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror.” He said 1.9 million of the 2.2 million people living in the Palestinian enclave had been displaced and were being pushed into “ever-diminishing and extre­mely overcrowded places in southern Gaza, in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions”.

‘Widespread impunity’

“The catastrophic situation we see unfolding in the Gaza Strip was entirely foreseeable and preventable. My humanitarian colleagues have described the situation as apocalyptic.

“In these circumstances, there is a heightened risk of atrocity crimes,” the United Nations high commis­s­ioner for human rights said.

He said, “As an immediate step, I call for an urgent cessation of hostilities” and the release of all prisoners. Turk said the human rights crisis in the occupied West Bank was also “extremely alarming”, as he called for the Israeli authorities to take immediate steps to end “widespread impunity” for violations.

“All parties are aware of what is really needed to achieve peace and security for Palestinian and Israeli peoples; violence and vengeances can only result in more hatred and radicalisation,” Turk concluded.

“The only way to end the accumulative sufferings is ending the occupation and achieving the two-state solution.”

The violence in Gaza “now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age”, charged aid group the Norwegian Refugee Council, which also warned of the dire public health threat of the approaching winter.

‘Exodus’

In an interview the UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said that an exodus of Palestinians from Gaza into other countries in the region would be “catastrophic”, stressing the need for a ceasefire. “I hope that there will not be a regional exodus of Palestinians,” he said.

“One should never forget that two-thirds of the population of Gaza are already refugees from the original conflict,” he said, referring to Israel’s creation 75 years ago which gave rise to the exodus or forced displacement of 760,000 Palestinians. That event is known as the Nakba, Arabic for “the catastrophe”.

A fresh exodus, Grandi warned, “would be an additional burden on the refugee population, on the Palestinian population and on the region”. “It is very, very important to address this to prevent an exodus that would be really catastrophic,” he said.

“The priority is to go back to a pause… hopefully followed by a humanitarian ceasefire, (an) even more stable cessation of hostilities,” he said.

“The Palestinian people are at the moment the victims of this military action, he said, adding that with more than 16,000 already dead, this “has to end as soon as possible”. “This is the outcome that we should all be working on,” he added.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2023