UN General Assembly calls for “immediate humanitarian truce” in Gaza

The General Assembly of the UN approved this Friday, with the vote against USAa non-binding resolution that calls for an “immediate and lasting humanitarian truce” in the midst of the escalation of the Israeli military offensive against the Strip. Loop.

With 120 votes in favor, 14 against and 45 abstentions, the General Assembly approved the text proposed by Jordan on behalf of the Arab group, in which neither is named Hamas nor to Israel. Previously, he had refused to include a Canadian amendment that called for expressly condemning Hamas for the attacks of October 7 that caused the death of more than 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians.

In retaliation, the Israeli army has since relentlessly bombed the Strip, governed by Hamaswhere some 2.4 million Palestinians live and which have already caused more than 7,000 deaths, according to local authorities, many of them children.

The text, co-sponsored by almost fifty countries, “calls for an immediate, lasting and sustained humanitarian truce, leading to the cessation of hostilities.”

It also rejects the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population, and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians who are “illegally” captive and “humane treatment” for them.

The Israeli representative to the UNGilad Erdan called the approval of the text “infamy” because it does not expressly condemn Hamas.

“We have all witnessed that the UN “It no longer has an iota of legitimacy or relevance.” “It’s a shame,” she concluded.

Exultantly, his Palestinian counterpart, Riyad Mansour, told the press: “We achieved it, but it is only the first step,” since “we have to maximize our efforts and energy to stop the war” against the Palestinians and promised that “they will continue to call at the door of the Security Council”, which rejected four resolutions in less than two weeks.

The representative of the United Arab States, Lana Nusseibeh, whose country is one of the 15 members of the Security Council, announced at her side that with the “moral authority” that the General Assembly has just given, they will try to “unblock the situation that has prevented the Council from ruling on this matter.”

Before the vote, Pakistan’s ambassador, Munir Akram, had explained that the approved text did not name any of the two parties in the conflict because “if you are fair, if you are equitable, you will not blame one party and not the other.” ”.

Division

The resolution, which unlike those approved by the Security Council is not mandatory, has once again shown the divisions of the international community, and in particular of the European Unionabout this old conflict.

The United States, unconditional supporter of Israel, voted against, as did some countries in the European Union, that the day before advocated enabling “humanitarian corridors” and implementing “pauses” that would allow urgent aid to be sent to civilians in Loop after overcoming differences and finding a consensus formulation on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Hungary voted against the resolution, along with Guatemala and Paraguay. Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, France, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Peru, Spain and Belgium voted in favor.

Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy, India, Greece, Japan, Sweden, Uruguay and Panama abstained. Venezuela, which co-sponsored the resolution, has not been able to vote as its right to vote has been withdrawn due to non-payment of its quota to the UN.

The resolution also condemns “all acts of violence directed against Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including all acts of terrorism and indiscriminate attacks,” and declares itself “deeply concerned by the latest escalation of violence since the attack of October 7, 2023.” ″.

Finally, it calls for a “just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” on the basis of the two-state solution.