UN General Assembly demands ceasefire in Gaza Strip | Conflict in the Middle East

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East. -Orient (UNRWA) which Israel tried to ban.

The organization’s 193 member states voted 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand an immediate ceasefire, and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA.

These votes are the culmination of two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas.

Israel and its close ally, the United States, were a tiny minority to speak out and vote against the resolutions.

While Security Council resolutions are legally binding, those of the General Assembly are not, although they reflect world opinion. There is no veto in the Assembly.

Palestinians and their supporters marched to the General Assembly after the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution on November 20 demanding an immediate ceasefire. This resolution was supported by the other 14 members of the Council, but the United States objected that it was not linked to the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas militants during their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. , which started the war.

The text of the resolution adopted by the Assembly is identical to that of the vetoed resolution, requiring an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire to be respected by all partieswhile reiterating a demand for immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

UNRWA is supported by the General Assembly

The second resolution supports the mandate of UNRWA, created by the General Assembly in 1949.

She deplores the laws adopted by the Israeli Parliament on October 28, banning UNRWA activities in the Palestinian territories, a measure which will take effect in 90 days. It also reiterates the statements of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, according to which UNRWA is the backbone of all humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip and that no organization can replace it.

Israel claims that a dozen of the 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza participated in Hamas attacks on Israel that precipitated the war. It recently provided the United Nations with more than 100 names of UNRWA personnel it accuses of having links to militants.

The resolution adopted Wednesday calls on the Israeli government to comply with its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and discharge its responsibility to enable and facilitate comprehensive, rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian assistance in all its forms throughout from the Gaza Strip.

The United States opposes

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood reiterated U.S. opposition to the ceasefire resolution ahead of Wednesday’s vote and criticized the Palestinians for once again failed to mention the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

At a time when Hamas feels isolated due to the ceasefire in Lebanon, the draft resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza risks sending a dangerous message to Hamas that it does not There is no need to negotiate or release the hostages.

The Hamas attack left around 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and 250 hostages were kidnapped. The militants have not returned the hundred hostages, a third of whom are believed to have died, and ceasefire efforts have stalled.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry. The latter indicates that women and children represent more than half of the deaths, but does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Mr. Wood said the United States would continue to seek a diplomatic solution to the war and called UNRWA a essential lifeline for the Palestinian people.

But he added that the UNRWA resolution presented serious shortcomingsbecause it does not create a path to restore trust between the UN agency and Israel, despite the efforts and proposal of the United States.

Just before the vote, the Israeli ambassador toHIMDanny Danon, accused supporters of the resolution of complicity with Hamas, which he said hopelessly infiltrated UNRWA. He also denounced their inability to establish a link between a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.

By demanding a ceasefire today without addressing the hostages, this assembly will once again side with those who advocate for human suffering. It will send the message that the lives of innocent Israelis, including children, are not worthy of consideration.

This is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It’s allowing terror and abandoning the innocenthe added.

At the opening of the debate in the Assembly last Wednesday, the Palestinian ambassador toHIMRiyad Mansour, accused Israel of massacres, displacements, destruction and famine, and of carrying out a cruel war against an entire civilian population.

Mr. Mansour said the only way to end the atrocities, free the hostages and preserve hope for a different future was to establish an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, support the humanitarian efforts and to prevent Israel’s attempt to eliminate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).