It has been almost a year since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, which opened a new chapter in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. As violence continues to escalate, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations for humanitarian coordination wing, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), addressed the Ambassadors in the Security Council upon the separate requests of Israel and Algeria.
The reference to the killing of six Israeli hostages and the ongoing polio vaccination campaign sparked broader discussions about the treatment of hostages and the mounting civilian toll. Currently, Gaza reports over 41,000 casualties, and more than 295 humanitarian workers have lost their lives in the field, signaling a critical failure to uphold international humanitarian standards.
The taking of hostages, prohibited by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and reaffirmed by Additional Protocols I and II as a fundamental protection for civilians and those hors de combat, has led to their use as human shields, compounding the crisis.
Amidst this reality, the polio vaccination campaign, for which a temporary pause in violence was requested, remains a fragile yet hopeful sign of hope. Despite this, as Ms. DiCarlo emphasized, the overall situation remains dire. While the Security Council has passed resolutions calling for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, the violence has yet to de-escalate, calling for concrete actions are urgently needed to turn these commitments into reality and bring an end to the suffering.
To read more, please visit:
- https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1153966
- https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule96
- https://dppa.un.org/en/mtg-sc-9717-usg-dicarlo-mepp-4-sep-2024
