Worthy audience, while the surprise Hamas attacks killed some 1,400 Israelis, more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The escalating death toll and destruction in Gaza heightened international support for “humanitarian truces” to get desperately needed food, water, medicine and fuel to the 2.3 million people in Gaza. Fortunately UNGA approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the first United Nations response to the war. Folks the fatalities of over 2 weeks horrendous bombing were so terrible & devastating that it could have resulted in very big scale regional conflict ultimately leading to WWIII. Therefore almost all the big powers exercised restraints & Islamic Countries & global ?citizens? stood united & took massive procession ,organized rallies &unanimously raised their voices against violation of Haman Riots in Gaza By Israeli Aerial bombing & ground missiles. Therefore, the frustrated Arab nations went to the General Assembly for immediate ceasefire resolution. But before it could materialized very unfavorable environments started developing against the resolution. Brief mention of the saga is as under:-
- The US expressed annoyance at the resolution not naming Hamas and called it an "omission of evil”.
- As you'll notice, two key words are missing in the resolution before us. The first is Hamas. It is outrageous that this resolution fails to name the perpetrators of the October 7th terrorist attacks: Hamas. Hamas. It is outrageous," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in her remarks before the vote on the resolution, said.
- She added that another key word missing in the resolution is "hostage".
- India has disgracefully abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict leading to a cessation of hostilities. It also called for unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza strip.
- Before the general assembly voted on the resolution, the 193-member body considered an amendment proposed by Canada and co-sponsored by the US to the text.
- The amendment proposed by Canada asked for inserting a paragraph in the resolution that would state that the general assembly "unequivocally rejects and condemns the attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting on 7 October 2023 and the taking of hostages, demands the safety, well-being and humane treatment of the hostages in compliance with international law, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release".
- India voted in favor of the amendment along with 87 other nations, while 55 member states voted against it and 23 abstained.
- The draft amendment could not be adopted, having failed to obtain a two-third majority of members present and voting.
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- The Jordanian-drafted resolution called for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.
- It also demanded the immediate, continuous, sufficient and unhindered provision of essential goods and services to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip, including but not limited to water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity.
- The draft resolution stressed the imperative, under international humanitarian law, of ensuring that civilians are not deprived of objects indispensable to their survival.
- It also called for "immediate, full, sustained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access" for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and other United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners.
- The draft resolution also demanded humanitarian access for the International Committee of the Red Cross and all other humanitarian organizations. This should be done by upholding humanitarian principles and delivering urgent assistance to civilians in the Gaza Strip, encouraging the establishment of humanitarian corridors and other initiatives to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians, according to the resolution.
- Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called it “a day that will go down in infamy,” saying after the vote: “Israel will not stop the operation until Hamas terror capabilities are destroyed and our hostages are returned. … And the only way to destroy Hamas is root them out of their tunnels and subterranean city of terror.”
- Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, called the General Assembly “more courageous, more principled” than the divided U.N. Security Council, which failed in four attempts during the past two weeks to reach agreement on a resolution. Two were vetoed and two failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes required for approval.
- Frustrated Arab nations went to the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes just as Ukraine did after Russia’s February 2022 invasion because of Moscow’s Security Council veto power ?to press for a U.N. response. And the United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the Arab representative on the Security Council, expressed delight at the result.
- 120 votes in this kind of geopolitical environment is a very, very high signal of the support for international law, for proportionate use of force, and it is a rejection of the status quo that is currently happening on the ground,” she said.
- The 14 countries that voted against the resolution include Israel and its closest ally, the United States, five Pacific island nations and four European countries Austria, Croatia, Czechia and Hungary, all European Union members. Eight EU members voted in favor.
- France’s U.N. Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere said his country supported the resolution “because nothing could justify the suffering of civilians,” and he urged collective efforts to establish a humanitarian truce.
3. Worthy audience it is a landmark achievement against Israeli ambitious plan to annihilate Palestinians in Gaza, the resolution demands that essential supplies be allowed into the Gaza Strip and humanitarian workers have sustained access. 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 also stresses the need “to urgently establish a mechanism to ensure the protection of the Palestinian civilian population.” It emphasizes the importance of preventing further destabilization and escalation of violence in the region” and calls on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint” and on all those with influence to press them “to work toward this objective.”
