Article 99 of the UN Charter? Until last week, few people had heard of it. That is not surprising: the Secretary General rarely uses it. The last time was in 1989, during the civil war in Lebanon. Now the normally powerless António Guterres once again reached for the only means of power he has because of the Middle East. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is so worrying, he believes, that the Security Council must quickly implement a ceasefire.
Simply put, the article states that the Secretary General can convene the Council if developments occur “that threaten international peace and security.” Normally he does not have that right: the Secretary General is merely the administrator of the UN apparatus, he must leave politics to the member states, the members of the Security Council in particular. The article is therefore an emergency button. The fact that he used it underlines the seriousness of the situation.
Guterres rightly drew attention to what everyone can see with their own eyes: that Gaza is completely collapsing on a humanitarian level. The advance of the Israeli army to the south of the completely walled Gaza Strip has left civilians nowhere to go. According to Palestinian authorities controlled by Hamas, more than 17,000 Palestinians have now been killed. According to Israel, this also includes 5,000 Hamas members. This does not alter the fact that far too little is being done to prevent civilian deaths.
It is beyond dispute that Israel has the right to defend itself after the horror of October 7. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people. Just last week, the BBC released new, chilling testimonies about the deliberate rape of women that day. From a military-strategic perspective, it is understandable that Israel is sending a strong signal to keep neighboring countries at bay. But the proportions in this war have been lost in every respect. As guardian of the UN Charter, and therefore of the international legal order and human rights, it is Guterres’ role to denounce this.
Israel is using the heaviest bombs it has, probably in the hope that Hamas’ tunnel network will collapse or be damaged. Thanks to advanced software, it can calculate fairly precisely how many people will die in such an attack. The immense humanitarian collateral damage has therefore been deliberately taken into account. Fortunately, the fact that Israel is not paying any attention to a single death in the hunt for Hamas is now causing concern even for loyal allies: the US and France, among others, called on the Israeli war cabinet to do more to protect civilians. It is disappointing that the US has once again used its UN veto to block an unequivocal call for a ceasefire.
The world is seemingly powerless in the face of Israeli determination. Even those traditional partners seem like voices crying in the desert. Guterres’ emergency button may confirm this apparent powerlessness, but it is not merely symbolic. This conflict actually threatens international peace and security. There are few conflicts that lead to so much tension, even far from the conflict zone. According to the European Commission, terrorist acts inspired by the war, such as last week in Paris, may become more common in the near future.
Israel is furious with Guterres and calls him a danger to world peace. This is irresponsible. Guterres deserves support. His plea for a humanitarian ceasefire and thus respect for human rights is the only correct one at this time. If there is ever room to work on a sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this will only be possible by focusing on human rights, those of Israelis and those of Palestinians. Brutal violence usually only leads to more brutal violence.
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