UNSC should push new Gaza ceasefire deal - Russia says, blaming Israel for thwarting process
Dmitry Polyanskiy urged the UNSC to adopt a new resolution for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, criticizing Israel for hindering the current US-led efforts and demanding consequences.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFUpdated: AUGUST 22, 2024 22:27 First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nation Dmitry Polyanskiy speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, US September 23, 2021. (photo credit: JOHN MINCHILLO/REUTERS)
The United Nations Security Council should push a new Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry A. Polyanskiy said Thursday as he blamed Israel for thwarting the existing US-led process to end the war in that enclave.
“Let's pass a new document, which would send an unequivocal message to the "spoilers " that they will definitely bear the consequences of what they are doing,” Polyanskiy told the UNSC on Thursday as it held its monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
That resolution should have a “toolbox which could help end violence, regardless of the whims displayed by any of the sides to the conflict,” he said.
It spoke as the US was struggling to finalize a deal to end the ten-month Gaza war and secure the release of the remaining 109 hostages in the enclave.
The UNSC in June had endorsed the Gaza deal US President Joe Biden had unveiled on May 31, with Russia abstaining. Both Israel and Hamas accepted the framework of that agreement but the US has struggled to bridge the gaps between the sides with respect to its implementation.
View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, on July 15, 2024. (credit: Oren Cohen/Flash90)
This has included a demand by Israel that the IDF must remain in the critical buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Two weeks ago the US put forward a bridging proposal which Israel has accepted, that appeared to leave open the debate on the Philadelphi Corridor.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield blamed Hamas for the impasse and asked the UNSC to pressure Hamas to accept the proposal.
"We continue thinking it's unacceptable that members of the Security Council in June signed off on obviously false statement in the American resolution, where it said that Israel supposedly had already agreed to the proposed deal,” Polyanskiy said.
Israel “had no intention of stopping their military operation in Gaza,” he said.
Now the US is pushing an amended deal that suits Israel that the UNSC never endorsed, he said.
“According to the information we have, Israel is now insisting on keeping the idea of military presence in Gaza, including their control over the crossing with Egypt and the Philadelphi corridor,” Polyasnkiy explained.
“We do note that such a change as to the parameters of the deal is also something that some countries in the region vehemently objective,” he said.
