UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war. The vote also shows the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.
The vote in the 193-member world body was 153 in favor, 10 against and 23 abstentions. The support was higher than for an Oct. 27 resolution that called for a “humanitarian truce” leading to a cessation of hostilities, where the vote was 120-14 with 45 abstentions.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. But the assembly’s messages are important barometers of world opinion.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinians are expecting a high vote Tuesday for a U.N. General Assembly resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza to demonstrate widespread global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war, now in its third month.
After the United States vetoed a resolution in the Security Council on Friday demanding a humanitarian cease-fire, Arab and Islamic nations called for an emergency session of the 193-member General Assembly to vote on a resolution making the same demand.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. But the assembly’s messages “are also very important” and reflect world opinion, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Monday.
The General Assembly vote is expected to reflect the growing isolation of the United States as it refuses to join demands for a cease-fire. More than the United Nations or any other international organization, the United States is seen as the only entity capable of persuading Israel to accept a cease-fire as its closest ally and biggest supplier of weaponry.
In tougher language than usual, though, President Joe Biden warned before the vote that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, told U.N. reporters Tuesday that Arab and Islamic ambassadors have been mobilizing support for the resolution and expect it will get a significantly higher number of votes than their Oct. 27 resolution, which called for a “humanitarian truce” leading to a cessation of hostilities. That resolution was the first U.N. reaction to the Gaza war, and the vote was 120-14 with 45 abstentions.
“I think it will send a message to Washington and to others,” Mansour said, adding that a demand from the United Nations, whether it’s the Security Council or the General Assembly, should be looked at as binding. “And Israel has to abide by it, and those who are shielding and protecting Israel until now should also look at it this way, and therefore act accordingly," he said.
The resolution to be voted on expresses “grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population,” and it says Palestinians and Israelis must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
It also demands that all parties comply with international humanitarian law, “notably with regard to the protection of civilians,” and calls for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access.”
Mansour said the 22-member Arab Group and 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation will oppose any amendments to the resolution.
The resolution makes no mention of Hamas, whose militants killed about 1,200 people and abducted about 240 in the surprise attack inside Israel on Oct. 7 that set off the war.
One amendment proposed by the United States would add a paragraph stating that the assembly “unequivocally rejects and condemns the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas."
A second amendment proposed by Austria would add that the hostages are “held by Hamas and other groups” and should be released “immediately.”
The war has brought unprecedented death and destruction, with much of northern Gaza obliterated, more than 18,000 Palestinians killed according to the Hamas-run health ministry, 70% of them reportedly children and women, and over 80% of the population of 2.3 million pushed from their homes.
Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
United Nations General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza
By Caitlin Hu, CNN
Tue December 12, 2023
United Nations CNN —
The United Nations General Assembly has voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in war-torn Gaza, in a rebuke to the United States which last week blocked a similar resolution in the smaller Security Council.
A majority of 153 nations voted for the ceasefire resolution in the General Assembly’s emergency special session Tuesday, while 10 voted against and 23 abstained.
Tuesday’s brief resolution calls for a ceasefire, for all parties to comply with international law, and for humanitarian access to hostages as well as their “immediate and unconditional” release. It notably contains stronger language than an October vote in the assembly that had called for a “sustained humanitarian truce.”
While a general assembly vote is politically significant and is seen as wielding moral weight, it is not binding, unlike a Security Council resolution.
The vote comes as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third month, with medics and aid groups sounding alarm bells on the humanitarian situation in besieged Gaza. More than 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the fighting broke out, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave said Monday.
Israel has said it will not stop its military campaign until it eradicates Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel which killed 1,200 people and saw around 240 kidnapped, according to Israeli authorities. Over 100 hostages are thought to remain in captivity in Gaza.
While Israel says it targets Hamas militants, aid groups have repeatedly raised alarms about the civilian toll of its military campaign.
UN officials warn that with vital infrastructure blasted to rubble and limited access to water, medicine and food, more Gazans may end up dying of diseases than from bombs and missiles. Hunger is a growing issue in the enclave.
“We are at a breaking point,” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said last week. “There is high risk of the collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza, which would have devastating consequences.”
Israel, with staunch US backing, has rejected calls for a ceasefire, though it previously agreed to a seven-day truce for the release of hostages held in Gaza.
On Friday, the United States vetoed a ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council, which had been approved by a majority of the powerful 15-member council.
By AFP
Published December 12, 2023
The UN General Assembly chamber at headquarters in New York
Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS
The UN General Assembly was due to vote Tuesday on a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza — a call that the paralyzed Security Council has so far failed to make.
The United States, one of only five permanent members of the Security Council, used its veto on Friday to halt a draft text calling for a ceasefire, the latest sign of impasse.
The Council took more than a month after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas militants to speak out, and it did so with a weak voice, calling in mid-November after four rejected texts for humanitarian “pauses” in the conflict.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a looming “complete breakdown of public order” in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Many countries and human rights organizations deplored last Friday’s Security Council failure, and Guterres on Sunday described the Council’s authority and credibility as “undermined.”
Israeli air and land attacks continue to pummel Gaza, more than two months after the bloody and unprecedented attack perpetrated by Hamas fighters on Israeli soil on October 7.
Some 1,200 Israelis were killed in the initial attack, while the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 18,205 Palestinians have died in Israel’s bombardment since.
The UN itself is mourning the death of more than 100 of its own aid workers since the onset of war.
“We need to stop this war. And we need to stop it now,” Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said Tuesday, adding that Palestinians are justifiably outraged.
“At the end of the day, we believe we will prevail with almost the entire international community in calling for a humanitarian ceasefire,” Mansour said.
– ‘Catastrophic’ –
In order to build pressure, Arab countries called for the new special session of the General Assembly for Tuesday afternoon, just after a visit to the Rafah border point by more than a dozen Security Council ambassadors.
The draft text, seen by AFP, largely reproduces the resolution blocked in the Council on Friday by the United States.
Expressing concern at the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” it “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” and calls for the protection of civilians, humanitarian access, and the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages.
But like a text adopted by the Assembly at the end of October — which called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities” — it does not condemn Hamas, an absence systematically criticized by Israel and the United States.
The US delegation has proposed an amendment which condemns “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” on October 7. A similar amendment to the resolution passed in late October was rejected.
Another amendment, proposed by Austria, states that hostages held in Gaza are “held by Hamas and other groups,” the key point again being to name the militant organization explicitly.
The previous resolution received 120 votes in favor, 14 against (including Israel and the United States) and 45 abstentions.
With calls for a ceasefire multiplying, “it is safe to assume that the majority will be greater” this time, Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.
This may bring the Assembly closer to the 140 or so countries (out of 193 member states) that have repeatedly denounced the invasion of Ukraine, a result that the United States has cited as proof of Russia’s isolation.
But even with overwhelming support for a non-binding text, “nobody imagines that the General Assembly can persuade Israel to cease fire, just as it cannot order Putin to quit Ukraine. The goal is to make the US increasingly nervous,” Gowan said.
Although the Security Council is “at the heart of our work in peace and security,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, messages from the General Assembly “are also very important.”
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/un-assembly-moves-past-security-council-to-take-lead-on-gaza/article#ixzz8LitgLmPw
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