Abul Gheit: Rejecting Ceasefire in Gaza Gives Israel ‘License to Kill’

UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza (EPA)
UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza (EPA)
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Abul Gheit: Rejecting Ceasefire in Gaza Gives Israel ‘License to Kill’

UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza (EPA)
UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza (EPA)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmad Abul Gheit said on Saturday that the failure of the UN Security Council to agree on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is equivalent to providing Israel with a “license to kill.”
The Arab League chief also said that the adoption of a resolution in the Security Council regarding the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip came "late".
The Security Council, criticized for its failure to take any concrete action on the war in Gaza, passed Friday a resolution that called for humanitarian aid in Gaza without a ceasefire to facilitate its delivery.
“The UNSC Resolution is an attempt to prevent famine in the Gaza Strip and to save people, especially women and children, from a catastrophic situation, but it is not enough to stop Israel’s war machine, particularly it does not include a ceasefire,” Abul Gheit said in a statement.
He said the decision came after stalling and delay at the request of Israel, stressing that what is required is not only the introduction of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, but also primarily the protection of civilians from the continuous bombing, achieving a sustainable ceasefire, and immediately starting a major relief operation to include hundreds of thousands of people who lack the minimum necessities for life.
“Every step to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza is in the right direction, but addressing the humanitarian catastrophe cannot be achieved through partial measures or palliatives to absorb the anger of world public opinion over what is happening in Gaza,” according to the Arab League chief.
Abul Gheit then affirmed that rejecting an immediate ceasefire is a “license to kill,” explaining that Arab efforts will not stop to reach an end to the war. He called on the US to reassess the situation and take the correct decision from both a humanitarian and political standpoint instead of being led by the desire of the Israeli extreme right to inflict collective punishment and revenge against 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, the Security Council adopted an amended version of the UAE-penned resolution to avoid a veto by the US.
The resolution demands the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.
The reference to “urgent and permanent cessation of hostilities” was removed from the initial text of the resolution.
Later, Moscow requested an amendment to reinstate the call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities,” which Washington opposed.
This is the second time that the Security Council succeeds in passing a resolution on Gaza.
On November 15, the Council approved a resolution calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire.”
In the past two months, five texts calling for a humanitarian ceasefire were rejected, including two vetoed by the US.

 



Rubio Speaks to Israel’s Netanyahu, Says US Troubled by Gaza Humanitarian Situation 

Palestinians wait for their food rations outside a distribution center in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinians wait for their food rations outside a distribution center in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Rubio Speaks to Israel’s Netanyahu, Says US Troubled by Gaza Humanitarian Situation 

Palestinians wait for their food rations outside a distribution center in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinians wait for their food rations outside a distribution center in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that Washington is troubled by the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Rubio, speaking to reporters in Antalya, Türkiye, said the US was "not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of people in Gaza," where no humanitarian assistance has been delivered since March 2.

He repeated the Trump administration's stance that Hamas fighters, who launched the October 2023 attacks that began the conflict, are to blame for the situation in Gaza.

"We think that the elimination of Hamas is what achieves peace. We're troubled by the humanitarian situation," Rubio said.

It was the first time Rubio has addressed the situation in Gaza since the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced it will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily-criticized distribution plan.

He said he had heard criticism of the plan and that the US was open to an alternative plan.

"It allows people to get aid without Hamas stealing it," Rubio said. "We'll continue to work towards that in ways that we think are constructive and productive."