UN General Assembly set to hold emergency meeting on Gaza

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly has announced that it will hold a special session on Gaza to take place on Tuesday December 12, a press statement issued by the UN General Assembly President confirmed on Sunday.

"President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, has just informed Member States that he will convene the 45th plenary meeting of the tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on Tuesday, 12 December 2023," the press service of the General Assembly’s President Dennis Francis said.

Egypt and Mauritania had formally requested a meeting by invoking the UN General Assembly Resolution 377 “Uniting for Peace” in a letter to President Francis.

The letter emphasised the need to reconvene following “a Permanent Member of the Security Council” vetoing a Security Council Gaza ceasefire resolution- in reference to the controversial US vote.

Resolution 377 allows the UN body to take action whenever there was an indication that the UN Security Council may have failed to “exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security”.

The resolution was first adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1950.

The move comes after the US vetoed on Friday a UN Security Council demand for immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The General Assembly in October had also adopted a resolution- 121 votes in favor, 14 against and 44 abstentions- calling for "an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."

The 10th Emergency Special Session of the @UN General Assembly will resume on Tuesday, 12 December 2023.

✉️: https://t.co/TvlqK4UcIo#UNGA #ESS10 pic.twitter.com/0d9JqtUH41

— UN GA President (@UN_PGA) December 10, 2023

Prior to the Security Council's vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked a rarely exercised power this week to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. 

Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter- last used over half a century ago- which says the secretary-general may inform the council of matters he believes threaten international peace and security.

This demonstrated an important additional power to the secretary general, since the real power at the UN is ultimately held by its 193 member nations- especially the 15 countries that serve on the Security Council.