White House interns demand a Middle East cease-fire in letter to Biden
NBCDec 01, 2023
UN Secretary-General Invokes Article 99 Over Gaza War
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Image copyright: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images News [via Getty Images]
The Facts
UN Secretary-General António Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter on Wednesday regarding the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, marking the first time the diplomatic tool — which is used to call the Security Council's attention to any situation the chief is concerned may threaten "international peace and security” — has been used since 1989.
Israel's UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, responded to the action by saying that the UN chief had “reached a new moral low” and should resign immediately. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that the move was "an endorsement of the murder of the elderly, the abduction of babies and the rape of women."
The Spin
Pro-Israel narrative
Though this has been a tragic war, Israel cannot allow Hamas to survive. Hamas seized upon last week's temporary pause to mark Israeli positions and prepare itself for continued attacks on Israeli forces in Gaza. Israel will have to work intelligently in its campaign in the south of the strip to fully eliminate the terrorist group so it can never launch an attack like Oct. 7 again — the UN chief's rare move only seeks to impede Israel's right to defend itself.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel continues to demonstrate that its war is not against Hamas but against the Palestinian people as a whole. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and Israel has effectively rendered the north of the strip unlivable. Unfortunately, the temporary ceasefire only gave civilians a few days of relative rest, and now Israel has returned to killing Palestinians at an unprecedented rate. Guterres is right to exert more pressure to end the war.
