The UN's Failure in Gaza

While the United States has allowed the Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops, it has been to little effect. It is situations like these which call into question the legitimacy and power of the Security Council to actually impact the international community. In fact, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon begins a tour of the Middle East, violence has actually intensified. The BBC is reporting over 1000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israeli launched it's assault in late December.
As calls for Security Council and UN reform continue, will the sheer ineffectiveness of the UN in this situation help push the international community towards action? This conflict is one of the most publicized and political ones in international media in recent years and has sparked intense debate at all levels, from citizens to the UN. Osama Bin Laden has even resurfaced to demand a "jihad to stop the aggression in Gaza."
When delegates are faced with a crisis at this year's HSMUN conference they will want to consider the sobering realities of the Security Council; simply making a demand is generally not enough. In this conflict, the Security Council has proved to be simply a room of people wearing suits talking to themselves, weakened by international loyalties and an unwillingness by certain countries to use harder diplomatic methods that threaten to lose voters at home.