UN Calls for Truce Over US Objections

Resolution doesn't condemn Oct. 7 Hamas attack
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 27, 2023 5:50 PM CDT
UN Calls for Truce Over US Objections
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield address the UN General Assembly on Friday.   (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution Friday calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, the first United Nations response to the ongoing war. The 193-member world body adopted the Arab-drafted resolution by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions after rejecting a Canadian amendment backed by the US. That measure would have unequivocally condemned the Oct. 7 "terrorist attacks" on Israel by Hamas and demanded the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas, the AP reports. The US voted no, per the Hill.

The votes came partway through a list of 113 speakers at an emergency special session on Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian territories. Jordan's UN Ambassador Mahmoud Hmoud, speaking on behalf of the UN's 22-nation Arab group, had called for action on the resolution because of the urgency of the escalating situation on the ground. The Arab group went to the General Assembly after the more powerful 15-member Security Council failed to agree on a resolution after four attempts over the past two weeks. While council resolutions are legally binding, assembly resolutions are not, though they do serve as a barometer of world opinion. The vote on the Canadian amendment was 88-55 with 23 abstentions, but it failed to get a two-thirds majority of all those voting.

Canada's UN Ambassador Robert Rae countered that it appears from the resolution that the events of Oct. 7 have been forgotten. The amendment would condemn Hamas, "which is responsible for one of the worst terrorist attacks in history." Hamas immediately welcomed the resolution's approval, per the Washington Post, and wrote on Telegram that the UN should take steps to implement it. Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan called Friday a "day of infamy" for the UN, per CNN.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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