NEW YORK
\nThe UN Human Rights Council on Friday is set to consider a draft resolution calling for a cessation of arms sales to Israel, nearly six months into the war in Gaza.
\nIf the text is adopted, it would mark the first time that the UN\u2019s top rights body has taken a position on the bloodiest-ever Gaza war.
\nThe draft resolution circulated on Wednesday condemns the \u201cuse of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza\u201d and demands Israel \u201cuphold its legal responsibility to prevent genocide.\u201d
\nThe draft resolution was brought forward by Pakistan on behalf of 55 of the 56 UN member states in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation \u2014 the exception being Albania.
\nThe text is co-sponsored by Bolivia, Cuba and the Palestinian mission in Geneva.
\nThe draft demands Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territory and \u201cimmediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment\u201d.
\nIt \u201ccalls upon all states to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel … in order to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, the US has warned Iran not to retaliate against it for an attack on Iran\u2019s mission compound in Syria, telling the UN Security Council it had no prior warning of the strike that Tehran has blamed on Washington\u2019s ally Israel.
\nUS representative to the UN Robert Wood reiterated that Washington has communicated to Iran that it \u201chad no involvement\u201d in the strike on the consulate, nor did it have any knowledge of it ahead of time.
\nWood said that since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, the US has repeatedly warned Iran not to take advantage of the situation by escalating its \u201clongstanding proxy war against Israel and other actors,\u201d but Iran has ignored that warning.
\nHe warned that US authorities \u201cwill not hesitate to defend our personnel, and repeat our prior warnings to Iran and its proxies not to take advantage of this situation to resume their attacks on US personnel.\u201d
\nTehran\u2019s deputy representative to the UN, Zahra Ershadi, said: \u201cIran has exercised considerable restraint but there are limits to our forbearance.\u201d
\nCelebrity chef Jose Andres said that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them \u201csystematically, car by car.\u201d
\nAndres said the World Central Kitchen charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers\u2019 movements.
\nSeparately, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said her country would consider recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state \u201cwhen the moment comes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK The UN Human Rights Council on Friday is set to consider a draft resolution calling for a cessation of arms sales to Israel, nearly six months into the war in Gaza. If the text is adopted, it would mark the first time that the UN\u2019s top rights body has taken a position on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-398535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n