UN Security Council warns of continuing "human rights catastrophe" in Gaza

China

UN Security Council warns of continuing "human rights catastrophe" in Gaza

2025-01-04 17:02 Last Updated At：01-05 00:07

The United Nations Security Council has warned that Israel's military operations are pushing the Palestinian healthcare system to the brink of collapse, during its first meeting in 2025, as the Gaza Strip's hospitals are overwhelmed with a surge in casualties.

The Security Council -- including its new members for the current term -- held its first meeting of 2025 on Friday, focusing on the conflict in Gaza and attacks on its health facilities.

The Council was informed that "a human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in front of the world," and that Israel's justifications for its operations are often vague and contradicted by reports.

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, provided devastating details on the situation in Gaza, saying that Israel's actions raise concerns about whether international law is being violated.

Turk told the meeting that Israel had conducted 136 strikes on 27 hospitals and said that healthcare staff were being subjected to arrests, harassment and interrogations.

"The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount, and must be respected by all sides, at all times. The destruction of hospitals across Gaza, goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their right to access adequate healthcare," he said.

Israel's claim that Hamas uses hospitals improperly and as a base for military operations was often "vague, broad, and contradicted by public reports," according to Turk.

The meeting follows a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last major functioning health facility in northern Gaza in recent days. It is reported that the hospital's director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, was arrested and has not been seen since.

Israel said the director has been detained, saying he is suspected of "potential involvement in terrorist activity."

China's Permanent Representative Fu Cong said that as the world was counting down to the New Year, people in Gaza were counting down to the next bombing.

"We urge Israel to strictly abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, stop turning hospitals into battlefields, stop attacking medical facilities, ensure the safety of medical institutions and medical personnel, and release all detained medical personnel," he said.

The meeting comes as a delegation from Israel is expected to arrive in Qatar to continue negotiations for a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Ukraine's halting of gas transit impacts Russia's energy leverage on Europe: scholar

2025-01-06 17:37 Last Updated At：18:17

The halting of Russian gas transit through Ukraine will result in a redoubling of efforts in Europe and Russia to find new supply routes, according to Chinese scholar of international relations.

Ukraine officially stopped the gas flow on Wednesday, following the expiration of a five-year agreement with Russia's gas giant Gazprom on Tuesday. This agreement, signed in December 2019, had allowed Russian gas to continue flowing to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines despite the conflict.

Zhang Xin, associate professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, East China Normal University, said that both sides of the trade relationship will face significant challenges as a result of the development.

"That has been anticipated for long, to essentially undermine Russia's ability to fund its military operation in Ukraine and limit Moscow's ability to use energy as a strategic leverage in Europe. And that's the main purpose. That kind of long term stable energy cooperation is part of economic interdependence between Russia and Europe has now come to an end, at least for the foreseeable future. So that's probably an even bigger loss for Russia as well as for Europe," Zhang said.

Following the halt of Ukraine transit, the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea has become the sole remaining route for transporting Russian gas to Europe.

The European Commission says the share of Russian pipeline gas in EU imports has plummeted from over 40 percent in 2021 to about 8 percent in 2023, with Norway and the United States emerging as the new top suppliers.

Amid concerns about supply shortages and soaring energy costs, Zhang predicts that countries will seek new ways to secure alternative transit and import routes for gas, continuing a trend that has emerged from the conflict.

"A larger implication for the geopolitics of energy for Russia, Europe, even for the global energy market probably consists of a few important trends in the foreseeable future. All major actors in Europe in Russia are going to intensify their efforts, double their efforts to look for alternative transit routes, import, export routes for gas as we've already seen in the past few years. But I think efforts along that line will be even intensified," Zhang said.