KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may still lobby for United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 377 A to circumnavigate the United States' veto on Gaza ceasefire.
Senior Research Fellow for Asia Middle East Centre for Research and Dialogue (AMEC) Dr Ferooze Ali said the Malaysian government should lead an immediate diplomatic effort, possibly with Indonesia and Turkey to support its activation as an alternative path to a ceasefire.
Last Friday, the United States (US) vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
"However, it is worth noting that there is another legal instrument within the United Nations that could bypass US vetoes.
"This is UNGA Resolution 377 (A), or known as the Uniting for Peace Resolution," he said.
When one or two permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) use their veto to block a resolution from passing, the matter could be referred once more to the UNGA either through a UNSC procedural vote or a simple majority vote through the UNGA.
He said the procedural vote by the UNSC is not subject to veto and this was key in appreciating Resolution 377 A.
"Once a procedural issue is referred to the UNGA, a two-thirds majority is needed to suggest any collective measures, including the use of force."
Most recently, in February 2022, Resolution 377 was implemented to impose effective sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, he said.
Universiti Malaya Peace and Conflict Studies expert Dr Muhammad Danial Azman however said resolutions created by UN agencies other than UNSC were considered soft power and had no higher degree of legally effective compliance.
"UNSC is the highest body of the UN system and has the final say against any status quo of a resolution.
"Only the resolution passed by the UNSC IS a real international law, and they are binding in nature," said Danial.
This means UNSC resolutions a hard rule and compels collective security jurisdiction of the peace and security order, he said.
He said resolutions by a lower tier of the UN agencies were considered paper protection mechanisms and had limited legal value to initiate any tangible or concrete legal or political protection actions in addressing the situation in Gaza.
Whether this resolution would be vetoed is subject to a hypothetical scenario where there would be a request for the UNSC to meet and debate the need for it to exercise its collective decision, he said.
"The real enforcement power of the UN resolution requires hard law.
"Only resolutions passed by a majority of the 15 members of the UNSC, and any of the P5 (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States) not vetoing them will become real hard law enforcement of the UN resolution to compel every country in the world."