Taking over from the Security Council, where paralysis prevails, its General Assembly UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” to be declared in the Gaza Strip, passing a resolution that, although not legally binding, given the overwhelming majority of member states that approved it, increases the pressure on Israel and its key ally, the USA.
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, spoke of the General Assembly’s “powerful message” and “historic day”. “It is the duty of all of us to continue on this path until we can achieve it end of this attack against our people, the end of it war against our people”he added.
The resolution was adopted with 153 votes in favour, 10 against (including those of Israel and the USA) and 23 abstentions, out of a total of 193 member states. In other words, the majority was even larger than the one that approved the October text (120 votes in favor, 14 against, 45 abstentions), which called for “immediate, lasting and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire” between the Israel and Hamas.
This is a larger majority than the one that condemned the invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine. In that case the majority did not exceed 143 votes, something that Washington had long touted at the time as proof of Moscow’s international isolation.
“The size of this majority will really hurt the US,” said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group think tank. As “it shows that the great majority of member states have lost patience with Washington’s position”.
Remarkably, even traditional Washington allies such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada endorsed the text.
The resolution follows an unprecedented move by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who says he fears a “total collapse of public order” in the Palestinian enclave. It demands an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, the protection of civilians, access to humanitarian aid and the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages. Like the previous text, adopted in late October, it does not condemn Hamas, much to the dismay of the Israeli and US governments.
“Why is it so hard to say without spin that the to kill babies and parents in front of their children is it horrible?’ asked US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Her Israeli counterpart Gilad Erdan criticized the “hypocritical” resolution. “It is time to put the blame where it deserves, the monsters of Hamas,” he insisted, reiterating the argument that a ceasefire would do nothing but strengthen the Palestinian Islamist movement.
“Two feet and two feet”
A US amendment to the text to include the phrase that the General Assembly condemns “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” on October 7 was rejected (84 votes in favor, 62 against, 25 abstentions), as it was in late October.
The special session of the General Assembly was requested by Arab countries after the US veto in the Security Council prevented the adoption of a resolution specifically calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
Governments as well as human rights groups strongly criticized the SA’s failure to approve the draft resolution, as did Mr Guterres, who said his “prestige and credibility” had suffered a blow.
It took the Security Council over a month to speak with one voice on the Israel/Hamas war. He was constrained in mid-November, after rejecting four draft resolutions, to approve a fifth calling for humanitarian “pauses” of operations.
More than two months after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern sectors of the Israeli territory – with a toll of around 1,200 dead, according to the authorities -, the Israeli army is intensifying its attack on the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement. The UN does not stop sounding the alarm about the catastrophic situation in the Palestinian enclave, where all public services, especially the health system, are on the verge of “collapse”. More than 18,000 people have been killed, according to Hamas’ health ministry.
“What are we waiting for to stop these deaths and this destructive death machine?” asked Egypt’s ambassador to the United Nations, Osama Mahmoud Abdelhalek Mahmoud, who spoke on behalf of the group of Arab states, criticizing the “efforts of a small minority of countries that oppose international public opinion, which wants a ceasefire”.
Making a not-so-disguised allusion to the US, he chided those who apply “double standards”.
“The price of her defeat Hamas it cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians,” the prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand said in a joint statement, explaining why their countries came out in favor.
Source: News Beast
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