Lana Nusseibeh speaks next to Palestinian UN envoy Riyad H. Mansour and Egyptian Ambassador to the United Nations Osama Abdelkhalek during a press conference at the UN. Reuters

The United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2720, penned by the United Arab Emirates, which demands substantive, concrete steps to increase the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip while protecting UN and humanitarian staff on the ground who deliver it.

The resolution requests that the UN Secretary-General appoint a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator who will monitor and verify that all shipments delivered in the Gaza Strip are humanitarian in nature.

The Coordinator, in turn, will be responsible for establishing a UN-led aid mechanism that will streamline and accelerate the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip. The Security Council demanded that all parties to the conflict cooperate with the Senior Coordinator, so they can deliver on their mandate without obstruction. This ramps up the UN’s response and gives it the Security Council’s full backing.

The resolution calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and for a sustainable cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

"The world has seen the suffering in Gaza and is desperately trying to come to its aid. This resolution will help make that happen at the scale that is needed,” said Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN. "Today’s resolution is an important step on the long road ahead.

Palestinian UN envoy Riyad H. Mansour talks to Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia.

"It is vital that the UN Security Council lives up to its responsibility by ensuring its full implementation.”

The resolution demands that parties to the conflict facilitate the use of all available routes to and throughout the Gaza Strip.

It demands that parties to the conflict ensure the safety and security of both UN personnel and humanitarian personnel. 136 staff from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East have lost their lives.

The resolution demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and ensuring humanitarian access for them.

Last week, Ambassador Nusseibeh led a fact-finding mission of current and incoming UN Security Council members to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Council members saw first-hand the desperate need for more humanitarian aid and the inadequacy of the current system.

They met with governments, UN officials, and humanitarian organisations on the ground. They saw thousands of trucks with aid from around the world unable to enter Gaza and provide relief, this resolution is a direct response to these challenges.

WAM