Detainees, Truce and Agreements *title altered at OP's request*

[stormy4319trevor]

Continuing broad discussion of the release of detainees, hostages and prisoners and the agreements around this.

This is about the emergency UN meeting tomorrow

''There are no vetoes in the General Assembly but unlike the Security Council its resolutions are not legally binding. But they are important as a barometer of global opinion.''

@Efacsen I have said this on another thread but it's the only card Hamas have left to play. I would want the Red Cross to verify life before I came to the table. Off camera.

@Stomacharmeleon how would the Red Cross do that considering the hostages are unlikely to be in one place, the enormous difficulty getting anywhere atm and Hamas not wanting to give away their positions?

Egypt and mauritania has invoked article 377
And called for an emergency meeting

What could be the implications of that? Could it produce any meaningful results? There isn't much information about it right now

@Parkingt111 do you mean more than I posted at 5am above and at the bottom of the last page?

Oh yes is it this? Thank you il read it now
I didn't realise it was the same thing

@Parkingt111 Looks interesting. There's a wiki page on UN General Assembly Resolution 377.

@stormy4319trevor what @Efacsen said here.
This is interesting so as it is non binding it shall remain to be seen how everyone votes

I wonder if the uk will just abstain again

It's being reported in 'The New Arab', but not hit the G yet, which is slower but where I get my updates. I'll copy and paste a bit from the wiki page, while we wait to see if further reports emerge.

.United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 377 A,[1] the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, states that in any cases where the Security Council, because of a lack of unanimity among its five permanent members (P5), fails to act as required to maintain international security and peace, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately and may issue appropriate recommendations to UN members for collective measures, including the use of armed force when necessary, in order to maintain or restore international security and peace. It was adopted 3 November 1950, after fourteen days of Assembly discussions, by a vote of 52 to 5, with 2 abstentions.[2] The resolution was designed to provide the UN with an alternative avenue for action when at least one P5 member uses its veto to obstruct the Security Council from carrying out its functions mandated by the UN Charter.

@Parkingt111 Yes, it's non binding, so would be recommendations only.

@stormy4319trevor including the use of armed force when necessary, in order to maintain or restore international security and peace.

It's unlikely for this to happen I think but I'm hoping the vote has some sort of impact in de-escalating the current conflict

There has also been strikes in the occupied territories and East Jerusalem today

@Parkingt111 I think the resolution was triggered by the 5 permanent members not agreeing on the ceasefire vote. So, it's a way to create further discussion and hopefully reach agreement amongst the UN as to further action. The UN is dedicated to peace, so, as you say, they won't want to use armed force, but it creates pressure to keep talking about the issues. I don't know anything about world diplomacy, but it's rather fascinating to see it working in action. The humanitarian situation is so awful that I have retreated a bit into just trying to understand how systems work to resolve conflict.

But also, I've not seen any reporting in the west about this resolution being triggered, so we may have to wait and see if it's verified more widely.

Watching this with interest. Will it do anything other than show the US and UK in an increasingly isolated position. US are determined to back Israel, even bypassing Congress to supply arms so I don't see any change in position just the usual empty words of everyone needs to adhere to international law. Well clearly that's not happening. Yet what does anyone actually have the power to do? incredibly frustrating.

There are lots of talks with how the current system is flawed
I don't see it changing anytime soon but this conflict has highlighted this
I am also interested to see what transpires from it
Maybe it could lead to further pressure on a new truce being negotiated?

I'm not sure @Rachna83 All the UN discussions are putting diplomatic pressure on to set an end date to the situation in Gaza at least.

Yes at least there is pressure and a determination shown to bring it back to the table. In terms of action let's see.

The bits I copy/pasted are from the Guardian live feed early hours this morning - also saw it on the BBC live feed

Thank you @efacsen! I'm a little distracted today and didn't read properly.

From what I have read today, Israel is saying there is no deadline. It will continue until it's aims are achieved.

@Rachna83 I suppose the US has the influence to get them to commit to an end date. With enough diplomatic pressure they may being that forward. Releasing hostages is of utmost urgency now, and that isn't possible to do safely without a ceasefire, I think. So there are various pressures. I think the issue for Netanyahu is to show a decisive victory, so it is all very complex. I'm just really hoping the UN can do what it's there for and bring about peace. It would be worse if we didn't have them, imperfect as it may be as an organisation.

Apparently Qatari mediators approached Israel over the weekend about further negotiations widely reported but just that snippet of information - maybe they check in with both parties every few days?

The general situation in Gaza sounds absolutely dire - hard to imagine that it's not effecting the poor hostages too

Does anyone know what time the UNGA vote is today?

@Parkingt111 you've probably already found this out by now! - for anyone else interested the emergency UNGA meeting starts at 3pm EST / 8pm GMT

No idea how long the meeting is or when the vote is expected

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