UN overwhelmingly votes for aid truce in Israel's war on Gaza

The United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] has overwhelmingly called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Israel's war on and Palestine's Gaza and demanded aid access to the besieged Gaza and protection of its civilians.

The resolution drafted by Arab states is not binding but carries political weight, taking the global temperature as Israel steps up ground invasion in Gaza in what it says is a "retaliation" for the surprise Hamas blitz in Israel's 75-year-old history on October 7.

It passed to a round of applause with 121 votes in favour, while 44 abstained and 14 — including Israel and the United States — voted no. The General Assembly voted after the Security Council failed four times in the past two weeks to take action.

A two-thirds majority was needed for the resolution to pass, in which abstentions do not count.

A Canadian-led bid to amend the resolution to include a rejection and condemnation of the "terrorist attacks by Hamas ... and the taking of hostages" failed to get the two thirds majority needed, garnering 88 votes in favour, 55 against and 23 abstentions.

Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram drew loud applause when he said the Arab-drafted resolution deliberately did not condemn or mention Israel or name any other party. "If Canada was really equitable," Akram said, "it would agree either to name everybody — both sides who are guilty of having committed crimes — or it would not name either as we chose."

Ahead of the vote, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that voting against the General Assembly resolution "means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing."

"Millions will be watching every vote. History will judge," he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Frustrated Arab nations went to the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes — just as Ukraine did after Russia's February 2022 invasion because of Moscow's Security Council veto power — to press for a UN response.

And the United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the Arab representative on the Security Council, expressed delight at the result.

"120 votes in this kind of geopolitical environment is a very, very high signal of the support for international law, for proportionate use of force, and it is a rejection of the status quo that is currently happening on the ground," she said.

Oman, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned Israel's "siege" of Gaza, starvation of its population and collective punishment of Palestinians. But it said the Palestinians won't be deterred from demanding their "legitimate inalienable rights, chief among them the right to self- determination and the right to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Wider war?

As fears grow that the conflict could spark a wider war, the assembly stressed the "importance of preventing further destabilisation and escalation of violence in the region" and called on "all parties to exercise maximum restraint and upon all those with influence on them to work toward this objective."

The General Assembly called on Israel to rescind its order for civilians in Gaza to move to the south of the enclave. Israel gave an ultimatum to some 1.1 million people in Gaza — almost half the population — to move south on October 12.

The General Assembly also "firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population."

Israel has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a brutal siege and has launched what it says is an extended "ground operations". Palestinian authorities say more than 7,300 have been killed.

The General Assembly called for "the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians who are being illegally held captive." It did not name Hamas anywhere in the text.

The initial draft of the resolution put forward by Arab states called for an immediate ceasefire. The resolution adopted "calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."

Israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Arguing for a ceasefire on Thursday, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the assembly that certain nations, which he did not name, were applying a clear double standard.

"How can ... states explain how horrible it is that 1,000 Israelis were killed, and not feel the same outrage when 1,000 Palestinians are now killed every single day?" Mansour asked.

"Why not feel a sense of urgency to end their killing?"

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi meanwhile warned that an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza would spell "catastrophe" for the Palestinian territory for years to come.

The "outcome will be a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions for years to come", Safadi said on X, formerly Twitter, from New York where he was attending a meeting of the UNGA.

Israel says UN has no legitimacy

Israel angrily dismissed the resolution, with the country's ambassador calling it an "infamy" and saying Israel would continue to defend itself.

"This is a dark day for the UN and for mankind," Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said, vowing his country would use "every means" in fighting Hamas.

"Today is a day that will go down as infamy. We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance," he said.