The United Nations General Assembly, with a majority vote of 153 in favor, 10 against, and 23 abstentions, demands a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.
By AP
Israel pressed ahead with an offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers that it says could go on for weeks or months.
But the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war.
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but the assembly’s messages are important barometers of world opinion. The vote Tuesday also shows the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.
More than 17,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where United Nations agencies say there is no safe place to flee. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods.
Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.
Qatar, which has played a key mediating role, says efforts to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but a willingness to discuss a cease-fire is fading.
Currently:
— Packed hospitals, treacherous roads, harried parents: Newborns in Gaza face steeper odds of survival.
— U.N. General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.
— Biden takes a tougher stance on Israel’s ‘ indiscriminate bombing ’ of Gaza.
— Biden will meet with families of Americans taken hostage by Hamas on Wednesday at the White House.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
United Nations General Assembly votes to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza
The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war.
The vote also shows the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.
The vote in the 193-member world body was 153 in favor, 10 against and 23 abstentions.
The support was higher than for an Oct. 27 resolution that called for a “humanitarian truce” leading to a cessation of hostilities, where the vote was 120-14 with 45 abstentions.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. But the assembly’s messages are important barometers of world opinion.