- August 1, 2024
- 11:51 am
- World News
It seems unlikely that the Security Council will be able to unite around any common message on the airstrikes because the United States, a key ally of Israel, and Russia, which has close ties to Iran, are veto-wielding members of the council.
The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting on November 1, 2024, after a series of airstrikes killed two senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials, threatening to spark a regional war in the Middle East.
On the last day of its UN Security Council presidency, Russia held an emergency meeting at Iran's request to discuss the Israeli liquidations of terror leaders in Beirut and Tehran. True, the official agenda, which was published on the UN website on the night of August 1, called both “political leaders” and qualified Israel's actions as “murder.” The fact that Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization in the US, EU, Canada, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and many other countries, including Arab ones, was not mentioned.
The UN Security Council discussed the assassination of the leader of the terrorist Islamist group Hamas in Tehran last night. The Security Council's duty chairman, Russia, readily complied with the Iranian authorities' request and put the issue on the agenda, despite the fact that the topic does not concern the Council's mandate to maintain international peace and security. Russia's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, who chaired the meeting, clearly abused his presidency by inviting representatives from Syria, Iraq and the “State of Palestine” (i.e. the Palestinian Authority, which is not a UN member).
Since Iran formally brought a claim against Israel over Haniyeh’s assassination, an Israeli representative also participated in the meeting – despite the fact that the Israeli authorities did not take responsibility for the event. The first speaker in the debate, the representative of China, condemned the “escalation of violence in the Middle East,” declaring that the parties should not act unilaterally, committing risky and provocative actions, such as the Israeli strike on Beirut. The Chinese diplomat demanded that Israel “immediately stop military actions in Gaza and collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
The representative of Algeria spoke in the same vein, declaring that “Israel has started the bloodshed” and is pursuing a “scorched earth policy.” Overall, only a few delegations spoke out with harsh criticism of Israel, and the delegates’ speeches mostly boiled down to the need for “détente,” the unconditional release of all hostages, and compliance with international law.
The South Korean representative noted that “the root of all violence in the Middle East in recent months is the war in Gaza, which must be stopped immediately.” The US representative Robert Wood emphasized that Hezbollah has been continuously firing rockets and drones into northern Israel since October 8, killing and wounding soldiers and civilians. He said that no country would tolerate such an attack on its sovereignty and security. Wood called on the Security Council to send an unambiguous message to Hezbollah that Israel will continue to defend itself against this aggression. He also recalled that Hezbollah is not the only pro-Iranian group that undermines peace and stability in the Middle East, mentioning the Houthis, who carry out attacks in the Red Sea.
Wood said that Iran's support for Yemeni Islamists violates two UN Security Council resolutions, and that arming Islamist groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria runs counter to the Security Council's desire to establish peace in the region. In this regard, the US representative called on the Security Council to take additional measures to hold Iran accountable for failing to comply with the resolutions and to put an end to the actions of its proxies in the region. In conclusion, Wood noted that the US knew nothing and had no information regarding the death of Hamas leader Haniyeh, and only recently received confirmation of his death.
UK Permanent Representative to the UN Barbara Woodward reminded the audience of the attack on the Druze village of Majdal Shams and the 12 children killed. She noted that Iran continues to arm its proxies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, providing them with modern missile weapons. The British diplomat supported Israel's right to self-defense in the face of aggression.
Speaking on behalf of Russia, Dmitry Polyansky called the assassination of Haniyeh “the most dangerous round of escalation in the Middle East region.” He noted that “this provocative attack was carried out at a time when the Hamas leader was in Iran at an official invitation to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the new president.” Without blaming Israel specifically for the assassination, Polyansky said that the event “deals a serious blow to the mediated negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.” The Russian representative also called the attack “an attempt to drag Iran into a regional escalation” and mentioned the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, saying that it “put the region on the brink of confrontation” in 2020. Polyansky accused Washington of setting a bad example for others with its irresponsible policies and concluded that the key to resolving the current escalation lies in stopping the bloodshed in Gaza.
The Iranian representative spoke of the “cowardly assassination of Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, the great leader of the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people,” and directly blamed the “Israeli occupation Zionist regime” for the assassination. He demanded that the Security Council “take immediate action to ensure security within the Council’s powers under the UN Charter.”
Israel's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Jonathan Miller, demanded that the Security Council ensure compliance with Resolution 1701 on the ceasefire line, obliging Hezbollah to withdraw all military assets beyond the Litani River. He noted that Iran has spent $800 million on weapons for Hezbollah over the past year, and that a third of all weapons found in the Gaza Strip were Iranian-made. Miller stressed that the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas are a global problem, not just an Israeli one. He recalled that the massacre committed by Hamas in Israel is the root cause of the escalation.
The Israeli representative recalled how 12 years ago the UN Secretary General declared the liquidation of Osama bin Laden a historic moment and the death of the world's greatest terrorist. “What happened 12 years later? Look who you condemn and who you support. The UN is unhappy that we protect our people, while Iran is a sponsor of terrorism and a war machine. Where is the condemnation of Hamas? Where is the condemnation of Hezbollah?” the Israeli diplomat asked those present.
Towards the end of the meeting, it became clear why Polyansky had invited the Syrian representative. He began to claim that Majdal Shams was “not an Israeli city, but a Syrian city that was simply under occupation,” and that “twelve Syrian children had died.” The Syrian representative blamed their deaths on “the occupation regime, which is lying and trying to shift the blame onto the Lebanese militias.”
The meeting ended without any conclusions or resolutions, since none of the Security Council participants proposed any.
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