The Gaza Blockade: An Act of Justice or a Violation of International Law?

The Security Council got off to a good start at nine o clock this morning in the executive suite on the eleventh floor of the Marriott Hotel in Doha. The council began the session with a string of moderated caucuses that addressed key issues regarding Israel and Gaza. The first, and coincidentally, longest moderated caucus was on the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel.  The delegate of China asked that the blockade be completely removed in order to allow vital food and medical aid to reach the citizens. This point was further stressed by the United Kingdom who indicated that up to 75% of Gaza’s population relies on aid but the Israeli blockade is preventing the citizens of Gaza from receiving such help.

This belief, however, was not shared by countries such as Portugal and Russia.  These nations believed a complete removal of the blockade was too much of a risk from a militaristic point of view. The delegate of Portugal however had to say that Israel should be more lenient towards the blockade.

The other issue that was discussed in this committee was negotiation with Hamas, the Sunni- Muslim Palestinian extremist group that assumed control of Gaza back in June 2007. The delegate of France presented these negotiations as alternatives to the blockade which has been the source of much controversy. However, the delegate did not elaborate on steps that should be taken in order to get Hamas to the negotiating table. The delegate also gave no instructions as to how exactly these negotiations should proceed in the unlikely chance that Hamas does accept the United Nations invitation. Oddly enough, none of the delegates bothered to ask this key question. 

Yet another question that was posed towards the Security Council: whether or not sanctions would be imposed against Israel after its assault on the Turkish flotilla on May 31^st 2010. The delegate of Brazil was very adamant in his support for the imposition of sanctions on the state of Israel as international law was violated. On the other hand, France was reluctant to impose sanctions stating that “they simply don’t work”. Lebanon’s recommendation involving a formal apology to Turkey as well as Gaza and Palestine by Israel did not meet any objections.

So, with all this fruitful debate n the Security Council,  the final decision as to whether or not the blockade on Gaza was justifiable is yet to be determined.