The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: The Discourse Analysis of the UNSC Permanent Three Member States’ Statements

Abstract

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza covers an unfortunate range of situations, starting from the massive displacement of citizens, the damage of the majority of necessary infrastructure for the survival of people, shortages of supplies and essential goods, the significant amount of suffering, and ending with lives of thousands of innocents. Thus, this research aims to analyze how the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) addressed the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip by analyzing the statements of P-3 member states, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, during UNSC meetings from October 16, 2023, to January 31, 2024. For the analysis, the research uses discourse analysis (DA) to understand the content of the speeches of those P-3 member states and the broader context, which is an essential aspect of the given issue. The results of the study showed that the representatives of the US, the UK, and France often tend to use arguments more favorable to Israel rather than Palestine, showing three common arguments presented in all of their speeches throughout the given period. There is a possibility that the discourse that occurred with the following disputes within the UNSC caused the potential ineffectiveness of the UNSC in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Thus, there is a need for further studies related to the given topic.