US pressure derailed Colombia’s 'Uniting for Peace' push for Gaza at UN: Report

Colombia's plan would have transferred the file out of the Security Council and allowed a UN-backed protection force to defend Palestinians  

News Desk - The Cradle

US pressure at the UN Security Council (UNSC) derailed Colombia's attempt to invoke the "Uniting for Peace" mechanism at the General Assembly earlier this year, after Washington secured backing for a draft resolution placing Gaza under foreign management, Electronic Intifada reported on 2 December.

Petro urged states in September to “bring together weapons and armies to defend Palestine,” grounding his call in Resolution 377 A, which allows the UN General Assembly to bypass a veto-paralyzed UNSC to take collective action. 

With the US vetoing six Gaza ceasefire resolutions since October 2023, the General Assembly had clear legal grounds to proceed.

Instead, the UNSC broke its deadlock on 17 November by adopting a US proposal, Resolution 2803, with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions. 

The measure installs a Board of Peace as a transitional authority for Gaza and calls for the deployment of an International Stabilization Force that will operate “in close consultation and cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel” until at least the end of 2027.

According to Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Washington acted out of “unhappiness” over the possibility of Uniting for Peace, adding that heavy pressure was exerted on member states. 

He described the arrangement as “perverse,” noting that “the perpetrator of genocide and its principal supporter are rewarded by presiding over a supposed peace process.” 

At the same time, Palestinians have been “excluded” from shaping post-genocide arrangements.

Legal experts and former UN officials denounced Resolution 2803, with Francesca Albanese saying that it places Gaza “in the hands of a puppet administration,” and Craig Mokhiber calling it “a US colonial outrage.” 

The resolution also omits any reference to the occupied West Bank, where more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023. Falk linked the omission to Israel’s long-term “Zionist plan,” describing the situation there as an “incremental genocide.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA), however, welcomed the UNSC vote, expressing “full readiness to cooperate” with the US and other states. 

Hamas rejected any “international guardianship mechanism” and the demand to disarm.

Despite the declared ceasefire, Gaza’s health ministry recorded at least 591 Israeli violations and 356 killings between 10 October and 1 December.