NEW YORK: The UN General Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday demanding a truce in Gaza — taking the lead from the paralyzed UNSC, and piling pressure on Israel and US.
The UNGA, which includes all 193 UN member countries, voted 153 in favor of the resolution while ten countries including the United States, Israel and Austria voted against, and 23 abstained. Predictably, the US and Israel were among the countries to vote against the resolution in the UNGA. Also among them were two small pacific islands –Nauru and Micronesia– with the combined population of fewer than 130,000 people. Austria, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and the United States voted against the resolution in the UN General Assembly.
The resolution passed following the UNSC responsible for international peace and security has repeatedly failed to pass such a resolution. Earlier, on Friday, the US exercised its veto to stop the latest draft text calling for a truce in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza War: UNGA Passes Resolution Calling for Truce
“These tragic efforts are a despicable sign of dual standards,” Egypt’s envoy to the UN Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud said of the United States’ attempts to provide Israel diplomatic cover ahead of the vote in the UNGA.
UN chief Guterres has also warned of a looming “complete breakdown of public order” in the besieged Strip. Many peace-loving nations and human rights organizations strongly condemned last Friday’s UNSC failure, and the UN chief on Sunday described the UNSC’s credibility and authority as “undermined.”
Israeli tanks and warplanes relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, exacerbating a dire humanitarian crisis as the UN described the region as ‘hell on earth’ due to Israeli brutal bombardments. The current Israeli bombardments have not only killed thousands of innocent Palestinians but have also severely disrupted aid distribution, leaving Gazans grappling with hunger and disease.
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In Khan Younis, Israeli troops launched a storming operation last week, tank shelling is now concentrated in the city center. Residents said that the situation is dire, with fresh Israeli air strikes hitting residential blocks without warning. Tawfik Abu Breika, an elderly Palestinian, lamented the destruction and casualties, stating, “This is ethnic cleansing, complete destruction of the Gaza Strip to displace the whole population.”
In Rafah, bordering Egypt, 22 Palestinian people, including children, were killed in an Israeli air strike on houses overnight. The heavy shelling in Rafah, compounded by restrictions on movement and intensified bombings, has left residents in constant fear and desperation for basic necessities. Abu Khalil, a father of six, said, “At night, we cannot sleep because of the Israeli bombing, and in the morning, we tour the streets looking for food for the children. There is no food. Israel kills us twice, once by bombs and once by hunger.”
