United Nations:

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly handed a non-binding decision Tuesday demanding a ceasefire in Gaza — taking the lead from the paralyzed Security Council, and piling strain on Israel and Washington.

The physique, which incorporates all 193 UN member nations, voted 153 in favor of the decision — exceeding the 140 or so nations which have routinely backed resolutions condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Ten nations together with the United States and Israel voted towards, whereas 23 abstained.

The vote within the General Assembly got here after the Security Council — answerable for world peace and safety — has repeatedly didn’t make such a name.

On Friday, the United States, Israel’s strongest ally and considered one of solely 5 everlasting members of the Security Council, wielded its veto to halt the newest draft textual content calling for a truce.

The Council took greater than a month after the beginning of the warfare between Israel and Hamas militants to talk out — and it did so with a weak voice, calling in mid-November after 4 rejected texts for humanitarian “pauses” within the battle.

“These tragic attempts are a despicable sign of double standards,” Egypt’s ambassador to the UN Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud mentioned of Washington’s efforts to supply Israel diplomatic cowl forward of the vote within the General Assembly.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a looming “complete breakdown of public order” within the besieged Gaza Strip.

Many nations and human rights organizations condemned final Friday’s Security Council failure, and Guterres on Sunday described the Council’s authority and credibility as “undermined.”

“We agree the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire,” mentioned Washington’s ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield forward of Tuesday’s vote.

“It’s the diplomacy that the United States is engaging in on the ground that made that week-long humanitarian pause possible,” she mentioned, referring to the one lull within the combating to date, which happened final month.

Thomas-Greenfield urged nations to again an modification to Tuesday’s decision that will have condemned Hamas, however that was voted down.

She additionally known as on Israel “to avoid mass displacement of civilians in the south of Gaza,” however mentioned Israel was pursuing “legitimate military objectives.”

Ahead of the vote, Israel’s consultant to the UN Gilad Erdan decried what he mentioned was a “hypocritical resolution.”

“Not only does it fail to condemn Hamas for its crimes against humanity — it doesn’t mention Hamas at all,” he mentioned.

– ‘Catastrophic’ –

Israeli air and land assaults proceed to pummel Gaza, greater than two months after the bloody and unprecedented assault perpetrated by Hamas fighters on Israeli soil on October 7.

Some 1,200 Israelis had been killed within the preliminary assault, whereas the Hamas-run well being ministry in Gaza says greater than 18,400 Palestinians have died in Israel’s bombardment since.

Arab nations had known as for the brand new particular session of the General Assembly, in search of to construct strain simply after a go to to the Rafah border level by greater than a dozen Security Council ambassadors.

The textual content that was handed on Tuesday largely reproduced the decision blocked within the Council on Friday by the United States.

Expressing concern on the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” it “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” and requires the safety of civilians, humanitarian entry, and the “immediate and unconditional” launch of all hostages.

Ahead of vote, the prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand — shut allies of Israel in addition to the United States — mentioned in a joint assertion that “we are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza.”

“The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians,” they mentioned.

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