Desk Report:
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a declaration on Friday calling for “pragmatic, time-bound and irreversible steps” towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
The seven-page declaration is the result of an international conference hosted by Saudi Arabia and France in July, Reuters reported. The United States and Israel did not attend the conference.
The resolution supporting the declaration was adopted by 142 votes in favor, 10 against and 12 abstentions.
The vote came ahead of a meeting of world leaders scheduled for September 22, which will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s high-level session. Several countries, including Britain, are expected to formally recognize the Palestinian state at the meeting.
The declaration, backed by the 193-member UN General Assembly, condemns the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war.
The declaration also condemned Israel’s attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Gaza, the blockade and the starvation, which had “created a devastating humanitarian disaster and a security crisis.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a post on the social media platform X that the resolution had isolated Hamas internationally.
“Today, for the first time, the United Nations has adopted a document that condemns Hamas’ crimes and calls for their surrender and disarmament,” he said.
The resolution was supported by all Gulf Arab states. However, Israel and the United States voted against it. They were joined by Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.
The resolution adopted by the resolution said that the war in Gaza “must end immediately” and supported the deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission authorized by the UN Security Council.
The United States called the vote “another ill-timed and ill-timed show of force” that undermines serious diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
“Make no mistake, this resolution is a gift to Hamas,” U.S. diplomat Morgan Ortagus told the General Assembly. “Far from bringing peace, this conference has already prolonged the war, emboldened Hamas, and damaged the prospects for peace in the short and long term.”
Israel, a longtime critic of the United Nations, has not directly blamed Hamas for the October 7 attacks. It has called the declaration “one-sided” and the vote a “dramatic spectacle.”
“The only beneficiary of this is Hamas. When terrorists celebrate, you are not bringing peace; You are encouraging terrorism.’
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Israel also said that 251 people were taken hostage.
On the other hand, according to the Palestinian Health Authority, more than 64,000 people have been killed in the ongoing war in Gaza.
