During AL JAZEERA's live coverage of yesterday's UN Security Council session which passed a Gaza ceasefire resolution, its diplomatic correspondent James Bays initially said that the U.S. ambassador's assertion that the resolution was "non-binding" must have been an accidental slip of the tongue.
The UN Charter is clear, and it had previously been universally accepted, that the fundamental distinction between Security Council resolutions and General Assembly resolutions is that the former are legally binding while the latter are not. Indeed, that is why the five permanent members of the Security Council granted themselves veto power in the UN Charter, thereby according themselves and their good friends effective exemptions from international law if they chose to exercise their veto power.
Apparently no longer. In a subsequent news conference, reported in the article transmitted below, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declared: "It is our interpretation of this resolution that it is non-binding."
The significance of this radical reinterpretation of the UN Charter is huge.
Asked about it, Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said that Security Council resolutions are international law, "so to that extent are as binding as international law is."
In its continuing service to its Israeli masters, the U.S. government has now driven the final nail into the coffin of the very concept of international law, effectively asserting as a de jure principle the long-running de facto reality that international law does not apply to and is not binding on the United States and Israel, whose behavior and crimes are subject only to the three fundamental rules of the American-dictated "Rules-Based Order" (https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/04/28/what-is-the-rules-based-order), which is the antithesis of international law.
Might makes right has resumed its prior role as the ultimate principle of international relations.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-says-un-security-council-resolution-demanding-gaza-cease-fire-non-binding/3174746
US says UN Security Council resolution demanding Gaza cease-fire 'non-binding'
'It is our interpretation of this resolution that it is non-binding,' State Dept. spokesman Miller says
WASHINGTON
The US on Monday said the UN Security Council resolution which was adopted earlier in the day and demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza is "non-binding."
"It is a non-binding resolution," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
"We didn't veto because we thought the language, as it relates to the cease-fire, and the release of hostages, was consistent with the long-standing United States position," he added.
Noting the ongoing negotiations in Doha, Qatar to reach a cease-fire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, Miller said "I can't say that this resolution is going to have any impact on those negotiations."
"But those negotiations are ongoing. They've been ongoing over the weekend and they've made progress," he added.
According to the UN Charter, all Security Council resolutions are legally binding under international law.
Asked by Anadolu about several other countries arguing that the UN Security Council resolution is binding, Miller responded: "It is our interpretation of this resolution that it is non-binding."
When asked about the previous UN Security Council resolutions that Israel has rejected to comply with, Miller said that the US expects all of its partner nations to comply with international law.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington did not agree with the resolution because it ignored the US' request to add a condemnation of Hamas.
Although the US did not agree with “everything in the resolution,” she added, “we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution. And we believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages.”
The UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which already began on March 11 and is set to end on April 9.
14 countries voted in favor of the resolution, presented by 10 elected members of the Council, while the US abstained from voting.
The resolution called for an "immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable cease-fire."
It also demanded the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs."