A vote in the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly demanded a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza to end the Israel-Hamas war, underscoring the growing political isolation of Israel and the United States on the world's stage.
Nations voted 153-10, with 23 abstentions, on Tuesday to express “grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population.”
It demands that all sides provide access for humanitarian aid, comply with international humanitarian law by protecting civilians, and immediately and unconditionally release all hostages.
The vote showed growing support for a cease-fire; nations voted 120-14, with 45 abstentions, for an Oct. 27 resolution demanding a "humanitarian truce."
Precipitating the latest vote was a move by the U.S. last Friday to veto a resolution in the U.N. Security Council to demand a humanitarian cease-fire. In that vote, 13 of the council's 15 members voted for the proposal by the United Arab Emirates. Only the United Kingdom abstained.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres had exercised his rarely used power to invoke Article 99 of the U.N. Charter, forcing the council to address the Israel-Hamas war as an urgent threat to international peace and security.
Sending a 'message' to Washington
Unlike the Security Council, which can enact legally binding resolutions, the General Assembly's resolutions do not carry the force of law. However, the global body acts as a barometer of world opinion and can serve as a moral authority.
Austria and the U.S. proposed amending the resoluton to mention the role of Hamas, but the assembly failed to back those amendments. As a result, the resolution omits any mention of the militants' Oct. 7 surprise attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others abducted, prompting Israel to declare war.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., told reporters before the vote that the resolution would "send a message to Washington and to others."
As he spoke, the U.N. released new figures showing 18,205 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the 2-month-old war, while 49,645 Palestinians and 5,431 Israelis have been injured. Some 52,000 housing units were destroyed in Gaza, and 1.9 million people – most of the population – fled their homes for safety.
