Summary
The Security Council’s resolution of 8 January 2009, adopted at its 6063rd meeting, which recalls resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008), stresses that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 and will be a part of the Palestinian state, expresses grave concern at the escalation of violence, the heavy civilian casualties since the refusal to extend the period of calm and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, calls for unimpeded humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza and sustained reopening of the crossing points on the basis of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism, encourages tangible steps towards intra-Palestinian reconciliation in support of the mediation efforts of Egypt and the League of Arab States, calls for renewed and urgent efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the vision of two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, as envisaged in resolution 1850 (2008) while recalling the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative, and welcomes the Quartet’s consideration of an international meeting in Moscow in 2009 (Resolution 1860 (2009) on Gaza (8 January 2009), PDF p.1-2).
What the file is
United Nations document S/RES/1860 (2009), Distr.: General, 8 January 2009, 2 PDF pages, about 539 words in the text copy. The text copy is clean and matches the original. No vote count is given in the file.
Section by section
- Preamble (PDF p.1). Recalling resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008); stressing Gaza’s status as an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 and a future part of the Palestinian state; emphasizing the safety and well-being of all civilians; grave concern at the escalation of violence and deterioration, in particular the resulting heavy civilian casualties since the refusal to extend the period of calm, and that the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations must be protected; grave concern also at the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza; emphasizing the need to ensure sustained and regular flow of goods and people through the Gaza crossings; recognizing UNRWA’s vital role in providing humanitarian and economic assistance within Gaza; recalling that a lasting solution can only be achieved by peaceful means; reaffirming the right of all States in the region to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders.
- Operative paragraph 1 (PDF p.1). Stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
- Operative paragraph 2 (PDF p.1). Calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment.
- Operative paragraph 3 (PDF p.1). Welcomes the initiatives aimed at creating and opening humanitarian corridors and other mechanisms for the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid.
- Operative paragraph 4 (PDF p.2). Calls on Member States to support international efforts to alleviate the humanitarian and economic situation in Gaza, including through urgently needed additional contributions to UNRWA and through the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee.
- Operative paragraph 5 (PDF p.2). Condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism.
- Operative paragraph 6 (PDF p.2). Calls upon Member States to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable ceasefire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained reopening of the crossing points on the basis of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access between the Palestinian Authority and Israel; in this regard, welcomes the Egyptian initiative, and other regional and international efforts that are under way.
- Operative paragraph 7 (PDF p.2). Encourages tangible steps towards intra-Palestinian reconciliation including in support of mediation efforts of Egypt and the League of Arab States as expressed in the 26 November 2008 resolution, and consistent with Security Council resolution 1850 (2008) and other relevant resolutions.
- Operative paragraph 8 (PDF p.2). Calls for renewed and urgent efforts by the parties and the international community to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders, as envisaged in Security Council resolution 1850 (2008), and recalls also the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative.
- Operative paragraph 9 (PDF p.2). Welcomes the Quartet’s consideration, in consultation with the parties, of an international meeting in Moscow in 2009.
- Operative paragraph 10 (PDF p.2). Decides to remain seized of the matter.
Key passages
- “Stressing that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 and will be a part of the Palestinian state” (preamble, PDF p.1)
- “Stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza” (operative paragraph 1, PDF p.1)
Evidence the work relies on
A Security Council resolution, not an evidentiary work. Its stated bases are the resolutions it recalls, the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access named in paragraph 6 as the basis for sustained reopening of the crossings, the 26 November 2008 resolution of the League of Arab States referred to in paragraph 7, and the Egyptian initiative and other efforts it welcomes without describing them. It gives no casualty figures; its reference to heavy civilian casualties since the refusal to extend the period of calm is not quantified and the refusal is not attributed to a party in the text.
Analysis
The resolution joins an immediate Gaza ceasefire-and-withdrawal call to the longer two-State frame without making the first legally conditional on the second. Its operative verbs are graded: it stresses and calls for a ceasefire in paragraph 1, calls for assistance and reopening in paragraphs 2 and 6, condemns violence against civilians and terrorism in paragraph 5, and only encourages reconciliation in paragraph 7 and welcomes a possible Moscow meeting in paragraph 9. Paragraph 6 ties the crossings to a named prior agreement, the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, and ties the durability of the ceasefire to arrangements against illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition, holding the humanitarian and security limbs in a single paragraph. The preamble’s Gaza sentence states both a present status, an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967, and a future one, part of the Palestinian state, which paragraph 8’s vision, expressly as envisaged in resolution 1850 (2008), carries forward.
People, organizations, places and events
UN Security Council Resolution 1860, UN Security Council, Gaza, UNRWA, Quartet, Agreement on Movement and Access, UN Security Council Resolution 242, UN Security Council Resolution 338, UN Security Council Resolution 1397, UN Security Council Resolution 1515
Concepts
How it relates to other sources
This is the primary text for Resolution 1860, not previously held as a source in the wiki. It is the Council’s Gaza instrument fourteen months after Annapolis Conference Joint Understanding on Negotiations (27 November 2007) relaunched bilateral negotiations and made no provision for Gaza fighting; its paragraph 8 vision is attributed to resolution 1850 (2008), which is not held as a source in the wiki. Its crossings paragraph rests on Agreement on Movement and Access, the 2005 agreement also recorded in the wiki from other sources as abrogated in practice after 2005. Resolution 67/19: Status of Palestine in the United Nations (29 November 2012) reaffirms 1850 among its Council bases but does not recall 1860; Resolution 2334 (2016) on Israeli settlements (23 December 2016) likewise reaffirms 1850 and the earlier settlement and Roadmap resolutions without recalling 1860.
Open questions
- No vote count is given in the file, so the resolution’s adoption margin cannot be stated from it.
- The refusal to extend the period of calm, from which the preamble dates the heavy civilian casualties, is not attributed to either party, and the period of calm is not identified by name or date in the text.
- The Egyptian initiative welcomed in paragraph 6 is not described in the file.
- Resolution 1850 (2008), recalled in the preamble and made the source of paragraph 8’s vision and paragraph 7’s consistency test, is not held as a source in the wiki.
Coverage
PDF p.1-2 of 2, read in full.