In the News — May 12, 2024

Israel Pursues Its Criminal Slaughter in Rafah and the Resistance Fights Back

Israel continues its vicious air strikes on Gaza, May 10, 2024.

UN General Assembly Upgrades Palestine’s Observer Status and Urges Security Council to Grant Full Membership

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on May 10 which upgrades Palestine’s rights at the world body as an Observer State, without offering full membership. The decision will allow Palestine to submit proposals and amendments directly to the UNGA, without having to go through another member state, as it had previously done. Observer status does not permit Palestine to sit on the UN Security Council (UNSC) or vote in the General Assembly, two of the most important rights that a member of the United Nations can have. Full membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council. UN News, speaking of the vote, reports that “the General Assembly determines that the State of Palestine is qualified for such status and recommends that the Security Council ‘reconsider the matter favourably.’”

The resolution passed overwhelmingly with 143 countries in favour, nine against and 25 abstaining. Canada dishonoured itself by abstaining. The resolution was originally introduced by the United Arab Emirates, following a UNSC vote on April 18 in which the U.S. vetoed a draft resolution recommending full UN membership for Palestine. Britain and Switzerland abstained in that vote while the remaining 12 members voted in favour. The upgrades in Palestine’s status will take effect when the new session of the Assembly opens on 10 September.

On behalf of the Arab Group, Mohamed Issa Hamad Mohamed Abushahab, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the UN, introduced the draft resolution, saying it recommends that the Security Council reconsider Palestine’s full UN membership application. Addressing the resumed 10th Emergency Special Session meeting on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Ambassador said, “Today marks a defining moment.” The State of Palestine has demonstrated that it deserves full membership in the international community by acceding to international treaties, adhering to the UN Charter and meeting requirements of statehood, he said. In addition, more than 140 countries now recognize Palestine as a State, he said. Voting for the resolution amid the ongoing conflict would support the two-State solution to the crisis, he said, adding that the Security Council must respond to the will of the international community.

Here are some of the rights that Palestine will have as of September 10.

1. The right to be seated among Member States in alphabetical order

2. The right to make statements on behalf of a group

3. The right to submit proposals and amendments and introduce them

4. The right to co-sponsor proposals and amendments, including on behalf of a group

5. The right to propose items to be included in the provisional agenda of the regular or special sessions and the right to request the inclusion of supplementary or additional items in the agenda of regular or special sessions

6. The right of members of the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the General Assembly

7. The right to full and effective participation in UN conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly or, as appropriate, of other UN organs.

The United States voted No to the resolution as did Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea.

The day prior to the vote, the U.S. Mission to the UN issued a statement in which spokesperson Nate Evans said, “President Joe Biden has been clear that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution, with Israel’s security guaranteed, where Israelis and Palestinians can one day live side by side with equal measures of freedom and dignity.” Commenting on the resolution, Evans stated, “It remains the United States’ view that unilateral measures at the United Nations and on the ground will not advance this goal.” Evans said the United States would be voting ‘no’ and encouraged other member states to do the same.

The issue of Palestine’s status will return to the 15-member Security Council for further consideration, where any effort to attain full membership is likely to be blocked again by the United States.

Palestinian Resistance Engages in Fierce Battles in Gaza

The westward advancement of Israeli troops into the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood was met with several direct operations conducted by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) al-Quds Brigades. Utilizing rocket-propelled grenades, PIJ fighters were able to target Israeli armoured vehicles in both al-Zeitoun and al-Sabra, which is located to the northwest of the aforementioned town. Remarkably, the group detonated a pre-set minefield, consisting of large calibre anti-armour explosive devices, targeting a number of Israeli occupation military vehicles to the east of al-Zeitoun. The group also targeted a number of Israeli troops travelling on top of a tank’s turret, dealing direct hits to the intended targets, near al-Zeitoun Clinic. Al-Quds Brigades fighters also conducted a series of indirect operations, utilizing mortar rounds and rocket artillery to target occupation forces in Rafah and Gaza.

The fiercest confrontations concentrated in the Saad Sayel Barracks, where al-Qassam fighters lured occupation forces into a minefield that led to confirmed casualties among enemy forces. Al-Qassam fighters also executed a multifaceted ambush near al-Dawa Mosque, targeting a composite force, consisting of an armoured unit and infantry, with several thermobaric RPG rounds and an anti-armour tandem al-Yassin shell. The group confirmed that the ambush resulted in casualties among an armoured personnel carrier’s (APC) crew members and at least two units located near the APC and a nearby building.

Israeli media outlets reported that at least five Israeli troops were killed on May 10 in the Gaza Strip, adding that multiple military helicopters evacuated Israeli casualties from areas of confrontation. Among those killed are reportedly four Israeli members of the Nahal Patrol Brigade’s 913th Battalion. The troops were killed as a result of the detonation of an explosive device in al-Zeitoun which also resulted in the injury of two troops.

UN Reports on the Situation in Rafah and Occupied Territories

More than 100,000 Palestinians have now fled Rafah.

The United Nations says more than 100,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave Rafah, amid intensified Israeli strikes on the southern city in Gaza. “More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah,” Hamish Young, UNICEF’s senior emergency coordinator in the Gaza Strip, said at a briefing in Geneva via video-link from Rafah on Friday, May 10. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) also estimated that “around 110,000 people have now fled Rafah looking for safety.” The agency, however, stressed that “nowhere is safe in the Gaza Strip and living conditions are atrocious.” UNRWA stated, “The only hope is an immediate ceasefire.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning on May 10 that the health care system in the Gaza Strip would completely collapse if the fuel flow is halted due to the closure of the Rafah and Karm Abu Salem crossings. The statement was made by WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris during the weekly press conference of the United Nations office in Geneva, regarding the dire situation in the besieged Gaza Strip. “Without fuel, everything we do in our hospitals will come to a halt, and it will no longer be possible to perform life-saving treatments,” she said, adding, “Without fuel, regardless of what anyone does, the entire health care system will collapse.”

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that on May 10, Israeli settlers set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. He stated, “In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is restored.” He further explained, “Over the past two months, Israeli extremists have been staging protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality.” He affirmed that “UN staff, premises and operations should be protected at all times in line with international law,” and called on the perpetrators to be held to account.

Support from Around the World Continues to Grow

Large demonstration in Malmö, Sweden, May 9, 2024, opposes Israeli participation in Eurovision Song Contest being held there.

The Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine is taking place in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa from May 10-12, 2024. The conference aims “to set the basis for the mobilization of a Global Anti-Apartheid Movement to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, and to work to dismantle Israeli apartheid from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” Organizers say this will see an intensification of the mobilization, organization and coordination for global action against Israeli apartheid.

In France, more than 1,200 Sciences Po Paris Alumni informed that they stand with Palestine and students facing repression. “We, alumni of Sciences Po and its dual degrees, feel an urgent need to respond to the call of Sciences Po students mobilized for justice in Palestine,” they wrote. The Sciences Po students had said, “Do not watch us. Join us.” The Alumni informed, “We support their admirable struggle against the inaction of our Alma Mater and its silence in the face of what the UN refers to as a genocide in Gaza. We unequivocally distance ourselves from alumni who advocate for additional disciplinary measures and exploit the fight against antisemitism.” They added that “the student mobilization does not represent a ‘radicalized’ or ‘dangerous minority’ but rather a global student movement of outrage against the blatant disrespect for international law, which has led to a humanitarian, environmental, and material catastrophe in Gaza. We are deeply troubled to see mobilized students facing harassment and defamation, as well as intimidation and unacceptable threats of suspension from school by the administration. We condemn their calling of the police to forcibly remove the students who organized peaceful sit-ins on campus. We remind everyone that this kind of blockade is not unprecedented at Sciences Po, and has never elicited such reactions before. We ask that Sciences Po publicly defend its students in the face of senseless political-media agitation, which notably paralyzed the holding of an academic debate for months. It is unfortunate that we must reiterate that upholding international law is not a radical stance, but rather the natural outcome of our Sciences Po education….” They wrote further “This action was taken after University administration failed to respond to the petition signed by more than 300 alumni expressing their solidarity with the student movement, nor to the open letter of more than 400 professors, doctoral students, and researchers of Sciences Po and elsewhere who deplore the repressive methods used by the administration.”

In the United States, Xavier University of Louisiana recently withdrew an invitation for the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, to speak at their commencement, marking the second such cancellation following a similar decision by the University of Vermont. Both institutions attributed their decisions to significant student and community pressure stemming from the Biden administration’s stance on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

In Yemen, marches in solidarity with Palestine continue. On May 10, several Yemeni provinces witnessed millions in the “With Gaza Glory Mobilization” march, emphasizing the continued support and victory of the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance until victory is achieved. The crowds denounced the Arab and Islamic silence and the international community’s disregard for the massacres and genocidal war against their brothers and sisters in Palestine, with U.S. and Western support. They renewed the continuation of general mobilization in support of the people and the Palestinian resistance, and enrollment in open military courses in preparation for direct confrontation “with the U.S., British and Zionist enemy.”

Demonstration in Sana’a, Yemen, May 10, 2024.