The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to demand an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the immediate release of all hostages.
The ceasefire demand in the resolution - adopted with 158 votes in favor - is an escalation by the 193-member General Assembly, which in October last year called for and then - two months later - demanded an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war. The United States, Israel and seven other countries voted against the ceasefire resolution, while 13 countries abstained.
The world body also threw its support behind the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, adopting a second resolution with 159 votes in favor to deplore a new law that will ban UNRWA’s operations in Israel from late January.
It demanded that Israel respect UNRWA’s mandate and “enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction.” The US, Israel and seven other countries voted no, while 11 countries abstained.
The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,208 people and involved the kidnapping of 251 hostages, has seen Israel’s retaliatory offensive result in at least 44,786 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to UN-reliable figures from Gaza health ministry.
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour called Gaza the “bleeding heart of Palestine,” urging the international community to act. Conversely, Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon criticized the resolution for not addressing what he described as Hamas’s “infrastructure of hate.”
