UN General Assembly votes in favour of immediate ‘humanitarian truce’ in Gaza
The UN General Assembly has approved a non-binding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza, that would lead leading to an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict
It was the first UN response to Hamas’s surprise 7 October attacks on Israel and the ongoing military response and vow to obliterate Hamas.
The resolution, which was put forward by Jordan on behalf of the Arab group, also condemns all acts of violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians and “terror and indiscriminate attacks”.
While it did not specifically mention Hamas, which is holding around 220 civilian hostages, it called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all civilians.
Resolutions by the General Assembly are not legally binding, but they carry moral weight due to the universality of its membership
The world body adopted the resolution by a 120-14 vote, with 45 abstentions.
The passing of the resolution came after it rejected a Canadian amendment backed by the US to unequivocally condemn Hamas “terrorist attacks” and demand the immediate release of its hostages.
Jordan’s UN ambassador Mahmoud Hmoud, speaking on behalf of the UN’s 22-nation Arab group, which drafted the resolution, called for an afternoon vote before all 112 speakers got to the assembly’s rostrum, because of the urgency of taking action.
The Arab group sought action by the UN body because of the failure of the more powerful 15-member Security Council to agree on a resolution after four attempts.
Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly so the resolution was certain to be adopted. While council resolutions are legally binding, assembly resolutions are not but they do serve as a barometer of world opinion.
The assembly’s emergency special session on Israeli actions, which began on Wednesday, continued with US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield echoing Israel’s envoy in calling the resolution to be voted on “outrageous” for never mentioning Hamas and saying it is “detrimental” to the vision of a two-state solution.
Oman, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned Israel’s “siege” of Gaza, starvation of its population and collective punishment of Palestinians.
But it said the Palestinians will not be deterred from demanding their “legitimate inalienable rights, chief among them the right to self- determination and the right to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
In addition to calling for “an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities”, the resolution demanded that all parties immediately comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law requiring protection of civilians and the schools, hospitals and other infrastructure critical for their survival.
The resolution also demanded that essential supplies be allowed into the Gaza Strip and humanitarian workers have sustained access. And it calls on Israel to rescind its order for Gazans to evacuate the north and move to the south and “firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population”.
The resolution was backed after Israel tonight said it was expanding its operations’ into Gaza tonight, as its attacks on the territory intensified.
Power and communications networks also went down across the country and aid organisations including the Palestinian Red Crescent told how they were unable to contact their teams.
Additional reporting by Associated Press.
