UN Security Council’s Authority Severely Undermined: Failure to Mediate Over the Gaza Conflict

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres attends the UN Human Rights Council /AFP=Yonhap News

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that the authority of the UN Security Council (UNSC) suffered significant impair as it failed to play a coordinating role for peace in the wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas.

At the Human Rights Council meeting held at the UN office in Geneva on the 26th (local time), Secretary-General Guterres stated, “The authority of the UNSC has been seriously, perhaps fatally, damaged.”

He identified the UNSC’s failure to respond appropriately in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in a stalemate, and the escalating humanitarian crisis due to the conflict between the Israeli military and Hamas as the causes of this authority damage.

In particular, he criticized the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli military continues ground operations, saying, “The UNSC lacked unity.”

This appears to highlight the worsening local humanitarian situation after the immediate call for a humanitarian cease-fire to halt the ongoing bloodshed vetoed by the US at the UNSC on the 20th.

After mentioning the Israeli military’s plan to expand ground operations to Rafah in the southern part of Gaza, where refugees are concentrated, Secretary-General Guterres criticized, “A full-scale attack on this city would be a horrendous ordeal for civilians and would cripple the UN’s humanitarian aid programs.”

He called for “serious reforms in the composition and working methods of the UNSC.”

Secretary-General Guterres has previously advocated for UNSC reform at the UN headquarters in New York on the 8th.

At the time, he stated, “In the past Cold War era, well-established mechanisms helped coordinate relations between superpowers, but in today’s multipolar era, such mechanisms are disappearing, and as a result, we are witnessing unpredictable and unpunished chaos.”