Summary
The General Assembly’s resolution ES-10/21, adopted on 27 October 2023 at the tenth emergency special session, which calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities, demands full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law on the protection of civilians and civilian objects in the Gaza Strip, demands unhindered provision of water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity and humanitarian access for UNRWA, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, calls for rescinding the order by Israel, the occupying Power, to evacuate northern Gaza, firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population, calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians illegally held captive, and reaffirms a solution only by peaceful means on the basis of the two-State solution (Resolution ES-10/21: Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations (27 October 2023), PDF p.1-3).
What the file is
United Nations document A/RES/ES-10/21, General Assembly, Distr.: General, 30 October 2023, Tenth emergency special session, Agenda item 5, 3 PDF pages, about 1,193 words in the text copy. Adopted at the 41st plenary meeting on 27 October 2023 without reference to a Main Committee (A/ES-10/L.25). The text copy is clean and matches the original. Footnote 1 identifies the Geneva Conventions. No vote count is given in the file.
Section by section
- Heading and preamble, principles (PDF p.1). Guided by the Charter; recalling Palestine resolutions; reaffirming respect for international humanitarian law under article 1 of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949; recalling Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 446, 452, 465, 476, 478, 904, 1397, 1515, 1850, 1860 and 2334, and Council resolutions on protection of civilians including children and armed conflict; grave concern at the escalation since the 7 October 2023 attack and deterioration in Gaza, the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem, and Israel; condemning all violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including terrorism, indiscriminate attacks, provocation, incitement and destruction.
- Preamble, protection and humanitarian situation (PDF p.2). Distinction, necessity, proportionality and precaution; civilians must be protected, deploring heavy civilian casualties and widespread destruction; accountability through independent and transparent investigations; catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, largely comprising children, need for sustained humanitarian access; support for the Secretary-General and for Egypt’s critical role on aid; support for efforts for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
- Operative paragraphs 1-4 (PDF p.2). Paragraph 1 calls for a humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities; paragraph 2 demands compliance with international law on civilians, civilian objects, humanitarian personnel, persons hors de combat, facilities and assets, and humanitarian access; paragraph 3 demands provision of essential goods including water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity, civilians not to be deprived of objects indispensable to survival; paragraph 4 calls for access for UNRWA, other United Nations agencies and partners, the ICRC and all humanitarian organizations, and encourages humanitarian corridors.
- Operative paragraphs 5-14 (PDF p.2-3). Paragraph 5 calls for rescinding the evacuation order for areas north of the Wadi Gaza; paragraph 6 firmly rejects forced transfer; paragraph 7 calls for release of all civilians illegally held captive; paragraph 8 calls for protection of civilian and humanitarian facilities and of humanitarian, medical and media personnel; paragraph 9 stresses impact on women, children, refugees, displaced persons, persons with disabilities and older persons; paragraphs 10-11 stress a protection mechanism for the Palestinian civilian population and a humanitarian notification mechanism; paragraph 12 calls for maximum restraint against escalation; paragraph 13 reaffirms a peaceful solution on the two-State basis; paragraph 14 adjourns the session temporarily.
Key passages
- “Calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities” (operative paragraph 1, PDF p.2)
- “Firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population” (operative paragraph 6, PDF p.3)
Evidence the work relies on
A General Assembly resolution, not an evidentiary work. Its stated bases are the Charter, article 1 of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, the Palestine and Security Council resolutions recalled in its preamble, and the Secretary-General’s calls as described in the preamble. It gives no casualty, displacement or aid figures.
Analysis
The Assembly’s first emergency-session response in this sequence stops short of demanding a ceasefire: its operative verb on the fighting is a call for a humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities, while its demands attach to legal compliance, essential provision and humanitarian access. Its sharpest specific act is paragraph 5, addressed to a single named order — Israel’s evacuation order for north of the Wadi Gaza — coupled in paragraph 6 with a categorical rejection of forced transfer. Paragraphs 10 and 11 ask for mechanisms, a protection mechanism and a notification mechanism, without designing either.
People, organizations, places and events
UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21, UNRWA, International Committee of the Red Cross, Gaza, East Jerusalem, UN Security Council Resolution 2334
Concepts
Two-state solution, Self-determination
How it relates to other sources
- Resolution ES-10/22: Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations (12 December 2023) bears the same title six weeks later and moves from a truce call to a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, in a text of four operative paragraphs against this resolution’s fourteen.
- Resolution 2712 (2023) on Gaza (15 November 2023), adopted three weeks later, likewise calls only for humanitarian pauses and corridors, not a ceasefire; this Assembly text already couples its truce call to a cessation of hostilities.
Open questions
- No vote count is given in the file.
- The protection mechanism in paragraph 10 and the notification mechanism in paragraph 11 are called for without composition, mandate or timetable in the file.
- No casualty or aid figures are given, so the scale described as catastrophic and heavy cannot be quantified from this file.
Coverage
PDF p.1-3 of 3, read in full.