The 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution calling for ahumanitarian ceasefirein war-torn Gaza.
Tuesday’s resolution passed with 153 countries voting in favour, 23 abstaining and 10 countries voting against, including Israel and the United States. While the resolution is non-binding, it serves as an indicator of global opinion.
“We thank all those who supported the draft resolution that was just adopted by a huge majority,” Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said in remarks following the vote. “This reflects the international position to call for the enforcement of this resolution.”
The vote comes as international pressure builds on Israel to end its months-long assault on Gaza, where more than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them women and children. More than 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have also been displaced.
Relentless air strikes and an Israeli siege have created humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory that UN officialshave called“hell on earth”. The Israeli military offensive has severely restrictedaccess to food, fuel, water and electricity to the Gaza Strip.
Tuesday’s vote comes on the heels of a failed resolution in the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday, which likewise called for a humanitarian ceasefire.
The USvetoed the proposal, casting the sole dissenting vote and thereby dooming its passage. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, abstained. Unlike UNGA votes, UNSC resolutions have the power to be binding.
