UK, Slovenia 'urgently' demand full implementation of UN resolution to protect civilians in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The UK urged Thursday a full implementation of a UN resolution to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip and reiterated its commitments to a two-state solution.

"There is a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Gazans need more aid, and they need it now," Barbara Woodward, UK envoy to the UN, told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

"We also urgently call for the full implementation of Resolution 2720 to protect civilians and enable humanitarian assistance," she said.

On a political solution to the conflict, she noted that the UK supports a two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

"We must give the people of the West Bank and Gaza the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future, and it needs to be irreversible," added Woodward.

Renata Cvelbar Bek, secretary general at Slovenia's Foreign Ministry, urged an immediate cease-fire in the besieged Palestinian enclave where more than 33,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7

"There must be immediate and full compliance with the Security Council resolutions and ICJ (International Court of Justice) orders related to the conflict in Gaza," she said.

Saying that this should not be an "ambiguous call, but a clear demand," she stated that all member states are obligated to uphold the UN Charter, including through implementing Security Council resolutions.

"As we are facing growing danger of a full-scale regional escalation, we cannot lose sight of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank," she said, expressing Slovenia's support for the political process leading to a two-state solution.

"We are of the view that the Council must do its part in the political process," she said.

Nearly 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 76,800 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.