UN assembly calls for a ceasefire amid tensions with Israel and the U.S.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Wednesday calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Nine countries voted against its adoption, including Israel and the U.S. At the end of November, a similar resolution failed in a vote in the UN Security Council.
The resolution was adopted with 158 votes in favour, 9 against, and 13 abstentions. It called for an "immediate, unconditional, and lasting ceasefire" and also for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."
"The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity," said Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon. Israel and the U.S. were among the nine countries that voted against the resolution.
The UN General Assembly also adopted a resolution, approved with 159 votes in favour, 9 against, and 11 abstentions, calling on Israel to allow the continuation of the activities of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the Palestinian territories. In this case, the U.S. and Israel also voted against.
"One rewards Hamas, the other humiliates Israel"
"The messages we send to the world through these resolutions matter. And both of these resolutions have significant problems," assessed the US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood. "One rewards Hamas and downplays the need to release the hostages, and the other denigrates Israel without providing a path forward to increasing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians," he added.
At the end of November, the U.S. vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution, calling for an "immediate, unconditional, and lasting" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and separately for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."
American diplomats explained that Washington would only support a resolution where the call for the immediate release of hostages is part of the ceasefire call.
