UN General Assembly approves ceasefire in Gaza by majority after US veto in Security Council

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, speaks last Friday at the Security Council's headquarters in New York.DAVID DEE DELGADO (REUTERS)

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza by a large majority on Tuesday, days after the United States vetoed a proposal for a Security Council resolution to the same effect. For the second time in more than two months of war, the blockade of the highest body of the organization has pushed the plenary to vote on a resolution of lesser rank: those of the Council are legally binding and in theory oblige the parties to comply, while those of the Assembly are a moral and political declaration; the thermometer of the international community. But no country has veto power in the 193-member General Assembly and only a two-thirds majority is required to adopt them. The resolution passed with 153 votes in favour (33 more than in October), compared to ten noes and 23 abstentions. Among those who have rejected the proposal are, in addition to Israel and the United States, two European countries, Austria and the Czech Republic, followed by others from Latin America and Oceania and one African country (Liberia).

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Israel-Gaza war, live

Like last week's frustrated initiative before the Council, the motion for a resolution put to the vote in plenary is promoted by Egypt and Mauritania on behalf of the Arab and Islamic groups of countries, respectively, and its terms are identical to those of the one vetoed by the United States. The text also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for the warring parties to comply with international law, particularly with regard to the protection of civilians. This initiative also entails a more ambitious goal than that pursued by the resolution adopted by the Assembly in October: "an immediate, lasting and sustained humanitarian truce leading to the cessation of hostilities". It was adopted with 121 votes in favor, 14 against — including the United States, in addition to the paradoxical rejection of Ukraine, a country also at war — and 44 abstentions.

On that occasion, Canada tried to introduce an amendment to reject and condemn the Hamas attacks of October 7 that triggered the war, but failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority. The United States has now tabled a similar amendment, which is due to be debated before the vote, urging the "unequivocal rejection and condemnation" of the brutal attack and hostage-taking. The amendment has been rejected for lack of support.

Moral Strength

UN Secretary-General António Guterres himself said on Saturday, after the US blow to the Council's resolution, that he will not give up on the effort for the organisation he leads to do everything possible to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, a concept that horrifies Israel and its main ally. The U.S. said it would only benefit Hamas. Hence, the resolution that is expected to be adopted by a majority of the Assembly has the moral force of a large majority of the international community, but nothing more than that: political weight. The fact that this is the eighth attempt by the political organs of the United Nations to agree on a resolution to stop or end the war also indicates their impotence and ineffectiveness.

The emergency session comes a day after 12 Security Council envoys visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, the only place through which limited humanitarian aid and fuel supplies have entered Gaza. The U.S. did not send any representatives.

Palestinians had hoped the outcome of the vote would demonstrate broad global support for ending the war between Israel and Hamas, which has now entered its third month. As U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday, the Assembly's messages "are also very important" and reflect world opinion. In an appearance prior to the session, Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday that he understood the anger and frustration of the Palestinian community: "The tragedy is so incomprehensible that if they are angry and frustrated and they curse us all - starting with me - I understand it; They're right and we're wrong. Our duty is to try to save the lives of those who are still alive by getting this resolution passed and forcing Israel to abide by it, and those who protect Israel [the U.S.], to obey the global consensus calling for a ceasefire."

After four failures, the Security Council adopted its first resolution on 15 November following the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, calling for "urgent and prolonged humanitarian pauses" in Gaza in order to get sufficient aid to the civilian population in the Strip. On that occasion, the United States, like the United Kingdom and Russia, abstained because the text did not condemn Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7. The British abstention was due to the same reason, while Russia's was due to the fact that it considered the initiative modest and insufficient.

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