UN Resolution in Gaza is Binding – China Challenges US at Security Council

March 26, 2024

China’s permanent ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun. (Photo: via UN Website)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

China reiterated on Tuesday that “UN Security Council resolutions are binding” on Israel, in reference to Resolution 2728 (2024), calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

China “calls on the parties concerned to fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter and to take due action as required by the resolution,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian told reporters when asked about comments by the US top envoy to the UN, who claimed a resolution passed Monday was “non-binding”.

The UN Charter stipulates that all Security Council resolutions are legally binding under international law.

The Council passed a resolution on Monday, demanding “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a sustainable lasting ceasefire.”

The resolution, which was written by the ten elected members to the council and was proposed in the council by Mozambique’s representative, passed with 14 votes in favor and the US abstaining.

After the resolution passed, the Chinese top diplomat to the UN, Zhung Jun, told the Council: “If fully and effectively implemented, (the resolution) could still bring long-awaited hope. Security Council resolutions are binding.”

Without directly naming the US and Israel, Lin said Beijing “expects the state with significant influence to play a positive role on the party concerned, including by using all necessary and effective means at their disposal to support the implementation of the resolution.”

The Council “must continue to follow closely the situation in Gaza and get ready for further actions when necessary to ensure the timely and full implementation of the resolution,” Lin said.

“China will continue to make unremitting efforts together with all parties to bring an early end to the fighting in Gaza, alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe, and implement the two-state solution,” he added.

Before the vote on Monday, the Chinese representative blamed the US for obstructing previous attempts at passing a ceasefire resolution.

“For the lives that have already perished, the Council resolution today comes too late”, he said.

Gaza Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.  

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 32,414 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,787 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’ 

(PC, Anadolu)