The United Nations General Assembly has
adopted a resolution ‘Protection of civilians and upholding legal and
humanitarian obligations’ demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in
Gaza.
Bharat voted in favour of the ceasefire
resolution in the UNGA’s emergency session on the Middle East on Tuesday (local
time).
As many as 153 nations, including Bharat,
voted in favour of the resolution, while 10, including US, Israel and Austria,
voted against and 23 countries, including Argentina, Ukraine and Germany abstained
from voting.
The resolution demands an “immediate
humanitarian ceasefire,” the immediate and unconditional release of all
hostages and well as “ensuring humanitarian access.”
It further demands that all parties
comply with their obligations under international law, including humanitarian
law, with regard to protection of civilians.
Bharat’s UN Permanent Representative Ruchira
Kamboj said, “Bharat has voted in favour of the resolution just adopted by the
General Assembly. The situation that this August body has been deliberating
upon has many dimensions. There is the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7 and
the concern for the hostages taken at that time.
There is an enormous humanitarian crisis
and a large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially of women and children. There
is the issue of observing international humanitarian law in all circumstances.
And there is the endeavour to find a peaceful and lasting two-state solution to
the longstanding Palestine question.”
She further expressed, “Our challenge,
in this extraordinarily difficult time, is to strike the right balance. The
gravity and complexity of what the international community faces are underlined
by the secretary general invoking Article 99 of the Charter of the United
Nations. We, therefore, welcome the fact that the international community unity
has been able to find a common ground to address the multiple challenges facing
the region right now.”
Meanwhile, United States-led amendment
to the draft resolution was not passed at the UN General Assembly. As many as
84 nations voted in favour of the amendment; 62 voted against while 25 voted
abstained.
Furthermore, Austria-led amendment to
the draft resolution on the Gaza crisis failed to pass at the UN General
Assembly. 89 nations have voted in favour of the amendment, 61 voted against
the amendment and 20 abstained from voting.
Israel’s Permanent Representative, Gilad
Erdan, said the UN General Assembly finds itself “about to vote on another
hypocritical resolution.”
He said, “Not only does this resolution
fail to condemn Hamas for crimes against humanity, it does not mention Hamas at
all. This will only prolong the death and destruction in the region, which is
precisely what a ceasefire means.”
Erdan said Hamas’ only intention is to
destroy Israel and the group has announced that it will repeat its atrocities
again and again until Israel ceases to exist. He called for the need to hold
Hamas accountable and added that a ceasefire means only one thing which is the “survival
of Hamas.”
He asked, “So why would anyone want to
aid Hamas in continuing their rule of terror and actualizing their satanic
agenda?”
He further said, “We all know that the
so call humanitarian ceasefire in this resolution has nothing to do with
humanity. Israel is already taking every measure to facilitate the entry of
humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent
Representative to the UN, said it was a matter of “deep regret, that some
friends of Israel have introduced amendments to once again condemn only one
side but exonerate the other.”
He said, “This is a war against the
Palestinian people.” He added, “Israel’s goal is to erase not only a people but
the entire idea of Palestine. It’s campaign is a carbon copy of the massive
campaigns of racial slaughter by other settler colonial regimes in history.”
The vote comes as the war between Israel
and Hamas enters its third month, with medics and aid groups expressing concern
over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel has said it will not
stop its military campaign until it destroys Hamas. Israel launched a
counter-offensive against Hamas’ after its attack on Israel on October 7.
ANI
