International Coalition Encourages Urgent Action in Gaza: Implement UN Resolution 377 Now
Aug. 4—An international coalition, led by World Beyond War, RootsAction, and others, launched a campaign on July 15 to force action at the UN to halt the war of genocide in Gaza by Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's government. They have called for the implementation of UN Resolution 377, titled “Uniting for Peace,” was adopted Nov. 3, 1950, empowering the General Assembly to override the United Nations Security Council under conditions in which the world deems immediate action to be essential, in order to preserve the international peace and world security. The United Nations General Assembly specifies that "Under the resolution 377A(V), ‘Uniting for peace,’ adopted by the General Assembly on 3 November 1950, an ‘emergency special session’ can be convened within 24 hours:
“Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security….”
World Beyond War reports in an update published on Aug. 2, that the mobilization to initiate Resolution 377 has already resulted in at least 200,000 emails sent to various governments around the world and is gearing up for a week of action at the UN’s headquarters in New York to begin on August 10. They emphasize that “the General Assembly should NOT escalate the war or deploy armed troops” (emphasis in original). Rather, the UN should convene an emergency session and use “Uniting For Peace” to “impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on the Israeli government, suspend the Israeli government from the United Nations, and send to Palestine unarmed peacekeepers (who have repeatedly shown their superiority to armed peacekeepers).”
The original July 15 statement reads in part:
“The world has watched in horror as Israel has unleashed its ferocious and unlawful assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza, with a declared intent, from the very beginning, to stop food, electricity, water, and other basic goods from entering this occupied territory.
“On July 9, 2024, UN Experts declared that the recent deaths of more Palestinian children due to hunger and malnutrition leaves no doubt that famine has spread across the entire Gaza strip.
“In the past seven months the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip has been systematically dismantled. According to OCHA, 24 hospitals in Gaza, Palestine are now out of service, while 493 health workers have been killed.
“There is no telling what the indirect human cost in deaths and long-term injuries will be as a result of aid and treatment having been denied.
“According to the United Nations, a staggering 1.7 million people, constituting approximately 75% of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, are internally displaced. This displacement has given rise to formidable challenges affecting the population and straining the humanitarian response, particularly in the areas of shelter, food, sanitation, and health.
“The current climatic conditions in Gaza further exacerbate the hardships faced by displaced individuals trying to survive in tents.
“Mindful of the suffering that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank endure, we urge the members states of the United Nations to uphold the rule of law where the United Nations Security Council has failed. Member states of the General Assembly can and should enact the”Uniting for Peace" resolution 377 to end Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza."