International and regional organizations as well as Arab and Gulf states welcomed on Sunday the United Nations Security Council resolution 2720 that calls for taking urgent steps to immediately allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry hoped the move would be a step in the right direction towards reaching a ceasefire and protecting civilians in Gaza.
It reiterated the Kingdom’s call on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and promptly put an end to the systematic violations committed by the Israeli forces against innocent civilians.
The ministry stated that these violations, which involve killings and forced displacement, violate international law and humanitarian laws.
The Security Council on Friday passed resolution 2720 urging steps to allow "safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access" to Gaza and "conditions for a sustainable cessation" of fighting.
Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Ministry commended the efforts of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab member at the UNSC, for presenting the Resolution and ensuring its adoption, noting that it constitutes an important step towards establishing a permanent ceasefire, protecting civilians and creating secure conditions for meeting the necessary humanitarian needs of the population.
It also requested the parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law with regard to the protection of civilians and rejected forced displacement.
“The UAE welcomes the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2720, which requests that the SG appoint a Senior Coordinator for aid deliveries in Gaza and establishes a new UN aid mechanism. Today’s resolution is an important step on the long road ahead. It will enable lifesaving humanitarian assistance to get into Gaza, at scale, and reach those in need,” the UAE Mission to the UN posted on X.
The Sultanate of Oman also welcomed the UN Security Council resolution as constituting progress.
But in an official statement, the Foreign Ministry added that the resolution does not meet the broad international consensus calling for a ceasefire.
The statement said that Oman stresses the need to ensure the continuous and effective flow of humanitarian and relief aid to the entire Gaza Strip.
It also renewed Oman’s call to the Security Council to carry out its responsibilities in implementing all its resolutions relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to achieve a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace, based on the two-state solution and an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Arab lands.
Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the UN Security Council Resolution which demands immediate, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.
The resolution is a significant step towards alleviation of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, but it fell short of calling for immediate cessation of hostilities, the Ministry said in a press release on Friday.
An immediate and durable ceasefire is the sole guarantee for full and effective implementation of today's resolution and stopping the bloodshed in the Strip, it stressed.
The Ministry recalled that the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic Summit, held in Riyadh on November 11, 2023, demanded breaking the siege on Gaza and opening humanitarian corridors under the aegis of the UN to ensure unhindered access of aid to Gazans.
The Ministry reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to working closely with international partners to prepare the ground for a durable ceasefire, protect civilian lives in Gaza, and relaunch a substantive peace process that could lead to Palestinian statehood in keeping with the two-state vision.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) welcomed the adoption of the resolution, expressing its hope that this resolution will contribute to alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip and delivering more aid.
Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi said in a statement that this resolution that calls for urgent steps to allow the immediate, extensive, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and to create the necessary conditions for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, in addition to the appointment of a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for the Gaza Strip and other paragraphs included in the resolution, are important decisions that will contribute in providing a safe environment for the residents of the Gaza Strip, creating the necessary conditions for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire.
Al Budaiwi called on the Israeli entity to quickly implement the resolution and adhere to all United Nations resolutions and the requirements of international humanitarian law to stop targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including hospitals, schools, shelters, and camps.
He also called on the international community and the Security Council, in particular, to assume its responsibilities by imposing an immediate ceasefire and protecting the residents of Gaza from the Israeli attacks that led to the death of more than 20,000 Palestinians and the injury of tens of thousands, the majority of whom are children and women.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed the resolution and stressed that the UN resolution is an important step that must be implemented immediately.
In a press release, the OIC called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to compel Israel to immediately and fully comply with the provisions of the resolution, to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, protect civilians and workers in the media, medical and humanitarian fields, and not carry out its plan to forcefully displace the Palestinians.
The Jeddah-based organization also renewed its call for an end to the brutal Israeli military aggression and to the destruction, displacement, and genocide to which the Palestinian people are subjected in all the Palestinian territories, but especially in the Gaza Strip.
