US rejects but mounting pressure for ceasefire in Gaza – Bowen

UN leader António Guterres has talked about the “serious danger to keeping peace around the world” in the Gaza conflict. He said the fighting could spread to other places like the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

He used Article 99 to make the UN Security Council vote on Friday because he thinks this is a very important matter that the council needs to know about right away.

The Israeli government strongly dislikes the UN and the secretary general.

The Israelis disagreed with what he said. They think Mr. Guterres is the one causing problems by trying to stop the fighting before they can get rid of Hamas.

The bad feeling will not get better because the secretary general also said that there is a risk that many Palestinians might have to leave Gaza and go to Egypt. This is a big worry for the Egyptian government.

Mr Guterres said there is a big chance that the humanitarian help in Gaza could completely fail. The Palestinians believe that Israel wants to force them out of Gaza.

I can’t go to Gaza because Israel won’t let journalists in, but from what I can see in the pictures and videos and what people are telling me, what the secretary general is saying seems accurate.

The situation for the people there is really bad because the military is attacking them without stopping. Israel says they are trying to save the lives of innocent people, but they believe that Hamas is using civilians to protect themselves.

At the UN, the Americans voted against the resolution asking for a stop to fighting. For those worried about the many people who died, it doesn’t seem sincere when the Americans say the Israelis promise to follow the rules of war and not harm innocent civilians. However, according to them, Israel does not always do what it says.

I believe the secretary general planned to make a decision for a vote, even though he knew it would most likely get rejected. He wanted to speed up the time when the Americans will tell Israel to stop fighting and agree to a ceasefire. They’ve been fighting for too long and causing too much harm. It’s time to stop.

Some diplomats I talked to said they might give Israelis more time. I think Mr. Guterres wants to try to make that shorter. He will do this by putting more pressure on the international community and also by making the Americans feel ashamed for holding this position, which is becoming less and less acceptable.

Today, there is more pressure because a video was released showing prisoners in Gaza being taken away by the Israel Defense Forces in their underwear. Seeing so many men in a picture of war is very sad. Local reports on social media say there could be as many as 700 men in the picture.

The family members of the men say that they were taken from a UN school where they were staying, and some people who tried to escape were killed.

Yesterday, a terrible video was shared showing six people dead in the street. They were said to be from the same area and near the same school. One of them was lying on top of a white flag, and there was blood.

The IDF is trying to figure out who is responsible for the attacks on October 7 and determine who is a suspect while following international conflict laws.

But for people who don’t care about what Israel is doing, or who have stopped caring because of all the killing in Gaza, they say that Israel doesn’t care about the dignity and health of Palestinians.

It’s cold outside, so having to walk around in underwear on the streets, some blindfolded as we saw in the video, and some with their hands tied behind their back, is not a good experience.

The Israelis say they cannot escape it – others say it is very brutal.