The United Nations General Assembly votes to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

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CNN
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The UN General Assembly voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, in a rebuke to the United States which has repeatedly blocked calls for a ceasefire in the UN Security Council.

A majority of 153 countries voted in favor of the ceasefire resolution in the emergency special session of the General Assembly on Tuesday, while 10 countries voted against it and 23 countries abstained from voting.

Although the vote in the General Assembly is politically significant and is seen as having moral weight, it is not binding, unlike a Security Council resolution. The United States used its veto last week against a ceasefire resolution in the mini-UN Security Council, which was approved by a majority of the powerful 15-member council.

The summary resolution issued on Tuesday calls for a ceasefire, compliance by all parties with international law, and allowing humanitarian aid to reach the hostages as well as their “immediate and unconditional” release. It contains significantly stronger language than October vote At the gathering that called for a “sustainable humanitarian truce.”

The vote, which Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour described as “historic,” comes as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third month, and at a time when medics and relief organizations are ringing alarm bells about the humanitarian situation in besieged Gaza. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Strip said on Monday that more than 18,000 people had been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of fighting.

Mansour said that the resolution “does not call or urge, but rather demands, and we will not rest until we see Israel comply with this request.” He added that the ceasefire is necessary to transfer the “massive” amounts of humanitarian aid needed by the besieged civilian population in Gaza.

Israel has said it will not stop its military campaign until it eliminates the Palestinian Hamas movement that controls Gaza, following its October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240, according to Israeli authorities. It is believed that more than 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza.

Ahead of the vote on Tuesday, Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan described the resolution as a “disgraceful” attempt to tie Israel’s hands, warning that “continuing the Israeli operation in Gaza is the only way to release any hostages.”

Israel rejected previous calls for a ceasefire, although it agreed to a seven-day truce to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Israel voted against The United States, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Austria, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia and Nauru participated in Tuesday’s decision.

“We have one priority – and only one – to save lives,” General Assembly President Denis Francis said at the opening of the emergency session on Tuesday afternoon, warning that civilians in Gaza had no safe place to take shelter from the fighting and aerial bombardment.

He said: “Even war has rules, and it is necessary to prevent any deviation from these principles and values, whose validity lies in their universal application.”

UN officials have warned that with vital infrastructure destroyed and reduced to rubble and access to water, medicine and food limited, more civilians in Gaza may end up dying from disease than from bombs and missiles. Hunger is a growing problem in the sector.

In her speech to the General Assembly, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that Washington “agrees that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire… and that civilians must be protected under international humanitarian law,” but she urged countries to support amending the resolution. Condemnation of Hamas, which did not pass.

She added: “The ceasefire now will be temporary at best, and dangerous at worst.” “It is dangerous for Israelis, who will be subjected to relentless attacks, and it is also dangerous for Palestinians, who deserve the opportunity to build a better future for themselves free from a group that hides behind innocent civilians.”

In a dispute with its southern neighbour, Canada cast its vote in support of the resolution, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a joint statement with the leaders of Australia and New Zealand in support of “urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australian officials have been communicating with Canadian officials for some time about this issue, and more recently with the new New Zealand government.

“We think it is important that very close allies and like-minded countries speak together to support the position we have made clear,” Wong told reporters on Wednesday.

She said: “We are democracies, we expect a high standard of ourselves, and we expect that we will all work to abide by international humanitarian law, including protecting civilian lives.”

Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae called on Hamas to lay down its weapons and stop using civilians as “human shields.”

He added: “The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continued suffering of Palestinian civilians.”

Meanwhile, South African representative Mato Gweni cited her country’s “painful past experience with apartheid” to persuade fellow countries of the need to “take the necessary measures in accordance with international law.”

She said Tuesday’s vote “represents an opportunity for us to make clear that the organization created to give hope for peace does not ignore the suffering of the most vulnerable.”

In a brief statement, Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, welcomed the decision and condemned what he described as a “war of genocide and ethnic cleansing” against the Palestinian people.