The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to hold an emergency meeting on Monday at the request of the UAE, who as the Council’s Arab representative sought a binding resolution demanding that Israel accepts a humanitarian pause to the fighting in Gaza.

The UAE made the request on Saturday in light of Israel “expanding ground operations” in the Gaza Strip.

Shahad Matar, the UAE’s spokesperson to the UN, posted about the request on X.

“UAE has requested an emergency UNSC meeting to be convened as soon as possible in light of Israel’s announcement that it is ‘expanding ground operations’ in Gaza,” she wrote.

The UAE is a non-permanent member of the Security Counsil for 2022-2023.

An hour after Israel launched its intense ground operation in Gaza on Friday, the UN general assembly voted 122 to 14 with 55 countries abstaining, for a humanitarian pause in Gaza.

While the UNSC resolutions are legally binding, the UN general assembly resolutions are not – they merely reflect the stance of different nations.

Protection of Civilians

In its statement seeking an emergency security council meeting, the UAE’s ministry of foreign affairs underlined “the importance of the protection of civilians, according to international humanitarian law, international treaties for the protection of civilians and human rights, and the need to ensure that they are not targeted during conflict.”

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli ground operations early Saturday in Gaza and voiced “deep concern over the Israeli military escalation.”

Israeli forces waged ground operations against Hamas in Gaza on Sunday in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of a three-week-old war aimed at crushing the Palestinian militant group.

Gaza’s besieged residents had faced a near-total communications and Internet black-out as Israel’s warplanes dropped bombs and its troops and armor pushed into the Hamas-ruled enclave, with Israeli military chiefs signaling they were gearing up for an expanded ground offensive.

Israel said 1,400 people were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, while the Palestinian Ministry of Health said more than 8,000 people, majority of whom are children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip.