The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers as outlined in the United Nations Charter include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. The UNSC is the only UN body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states.
The member states of the United Nations comprise 193 sovereign states. The United Nations (UN) is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly.
The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) is an organization founded on 29 May 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East. Established amidst the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, its primary task was initially to provide the military command structure to the peacekeeping forces in the Middle East to enable the peacekeepers to observe and maintain the ceasefire, and in assisting the parties to the Armistice Agreements in the supervision of the application and observance of the terms of those Agreements. The organization's structure and role has evolved over time as a result of the various conflicts in the region and at times UNTSO personnel have been used to rapidly deploy to other areas of the Middle East in support of other United Nations operations. The command structure of the UNTSO was maintained to cover the later peacekeeping organisations of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to which UNTSO continues to provide military observers.
A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly.
Issues relating to the State of Israel and aspects of the Arab–Israeli conflict and more recently the Iran–Israel conflict occupy repeated annual debate times, resolutions and resources at the United Nations. Since its founding in 1948, the United Nations Security Council, has adopted 79 resolutions directly related to the Arab–Israeli conflict as of January 2010.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, adopted on 20 August 1980, is the last of seven UNSC resolutions condemning Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. UNSC res 478 notes Israel's non-compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 476 and condemned Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Law which declared Jerusalem to be Israel's "complete and united" capital, as a violation of international law. The resolution states that the council will not recognize this law, and calls on member states to accept the decision of the council. This resolution also calls upon member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. The UNSC resolutions followed two General Assembly resolutions regarding Israel's actions in East Jerusalem.
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 is a resolution adopted near the end of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Resolution defines principles for reaching a final settlement and returning Palestine refugees to their homes. Article 11 of the resolution resolves that
refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.
The Military Staff Committee (MSC) is the United Nations Security Council subsidiary body whose role, as defined by the United Nations Charter, is to plan UN military operations and assist in the regulation of armaments. Although the Military Staff Committee continues to exist, negotiation efforts between the United States, the Soviet Union and other nations in the late 1940s failed, and the committee has since been largely defunct, only serving in an advisory capacity.
The United Nations Security Council veto power is the power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to veto any decision other than a "procedural" decision.
The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) or Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) was created by UN-resolution 194 of December 11, 1948, with the aim of mediating in the Arab–Israeli conflict. The Commission consisted of France, Turkey and the United States, and its official headquarters was set up in Jerusalem on January 24, 1949. The commission met separately with Israeli and Arab governments from February 12–25, 1949, with Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari of the General Refugee Congress (GRC) and a Palestinian refugee delegation on March 21 in Beirut, and on April 7 in Tel Aviv with Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion. It then proposed the Lausanne Conference of 1949.
The United Nations has played an advisory role in maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region soon after the independence and partition of British India into the dominions of Pakistan and India in 1947, when a dispute erupted between the two new States on the question of accession over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India took this matter to the UN Security Council, which passed resolution 39 (1948) and established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate the issues and mediate between the two new countries. Following the cease-fire of hostilities, it also established the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to monitor the cease-fire line.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 54, adopted on 15 July 1948, determined that the situation in Palestine constitutes a threat to the peace within the meaning of Article 39 of the Charter of the United Nations. The resolution ordered all governments and authorities concerned to desist from further military action and to issue a cease-fire to their military and paramilitary forces to take effect at a time to be determined by the mediator in the next three days. It also declared that failure to comply with these orders would demonstrate the existence of a breach of the peace within the meaning of article 39 of the Charter and would require immediate consideration by the Council.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 61, adopted on November 4, 1948, decided that the truce established in United Nations Security Council Resolution 54 shall remain in effect until a peaceful adjustment of the future situation of Palestine is reached. To that end the Council ordered the withdraw of the forces in the area back to the positions held on the 14th of October with the Acting Mediator being authorized to establish provisional lines beyond which no movement of troops was to take place. The Council also decreed that neutral zones shall be established through negotiations between the parties, or failing that, by the decision of the Acting Mediator.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 72, adopted on August 11, 1949, after receiving a report by the Acting United Nations Mediator in Palestine on the completion of his responsibilities, the UN decided to pay tribute to the late Count Folke Bernadotte, the then current Acting Mediator Dr. Ralph J. Bunche and the Belgian, French, Swedish and American officers who served on the staff and as military observers in Palestine.
Resolution 82 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 25 June 1950. It condemned the "armed attack on the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea", while calling for "the immediate cessation of hostilities" and for "the authorities in North Korea to withdraw forthwith their armed forces to the 38th parallel". The measure was adopted with 9 voting for, none opposed, and one abstention by Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union was absent, as it was boycotting the UN at the time for its recognition of the Republic of China as China's representative to the organization.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 426, adopted on 19 March 1978 at the 2075th meeting of the Security Council, is concerned with both the creation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the duration of its mandate. It comes immediately after and complements Resolution 425, adopted during an earlier meeting on the same day.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1689, adopted unanimously on June 20, 2006, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Liberia and West Africa, the Council decided to continue sanctions against the import of diamonds from the country for six months, though similar restrictions relating to timber imports were lifted.
