As the UN called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza and US President Joe Biden informed the longstanding ally that its “indiscriminate” shelling of people was undermining international backing, Israel faced increasing diplomatic isolation in its fight against Hamas.
Israel’s violent attack on Gaza in an effort to destroy the Palestinian resistance movement The Gaza Health Ministry reports that since October 7, Hamas has wounded close to 50,000 Palestinians and killed at least 18,205, the majority of them being women and children.
Three-quarters of the 193-member UN General Assembly voted in favor of a resolution calling for a ceasefire on Tuesday, following grave warnings from UN authorities about a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Separately, in a joint statement demanding a truce, the Presidents of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand stated, “The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.”
The Palestinian Authority applauded the decision and asked other nations to put pressure on Israel to abide by it. That response was mirrored by Izzat El-Reshiq, a Hamas official living in exile, who said in a Telegram statement that Israel needed to “stop its aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing against our people.”
Together with eight other nations, the US and Israel voted against the resolution on the grounds that a truce would only help Hamas.
“A ceasefire means one thing and one thing only—ensuring the survival of Hamas, ensuring the survival of genocidal terrorists committed to the annihilation of Israel and Jews,” stated Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan prior to the UN vote.
Prior to the decision, Biden declared that the US and the EU, together with “most of the world,” now supported Israel in its conflict with the Hamas terrorist organization in Palestine.
He said at a Washington, D.C., campaign donor gathering, “But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”
Biden also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to modify his hardline administration and that, in the end, Israel “cannot say no” to an independent Palestinian state—something that Israeli hardliners oppose. This was the most overt display of dissent between the leaders to yet.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit the Middle East the next week, while White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Israel this week. According to Biden, Sullivan will highlight both the necessity of preserving civilian life in Gaza and the US commitment to Israel.
According to the UN and Gaza Health Ministry, the battle has also resulted in famine, forced 85% of the inhabitants from their homes, and caused diseases to proliferate.
Although non-binding, the UN resolution has political significance and represents a consensus on the conflict around the world. Although it does not have a veto in the General Assembly, the United States last week vetoed a similar request in the 15-member Security Council.
The motion on Tuesday received 153 votes in favor, 10 votes against, and 23 abstentions. The resolution was approved by a larger margin than a comparable UN resolution in October, which had 121 votes in favor, 14 against, and 44 abstentions—a sign of waning support for Israel.
Since a brief truce broke on December 1, Israel has increased its onslaught from its previous phase, which involved crushing the north of Gaza. Residents of Khan Younis, the biggest city in southern Gaza, indicated that the center of the Israeli tank fire on Tuesday was the target.
Health officials reported that 11 Palestinians, including two children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes on Khan Younis after dusk.
Gazans reported that last month’s Israeli army assurances to civilians in the border town of Rafah, south of Gaza, that they would be safe, came during some of the worst shelling in recent memory. According to health experts, there were 22 deaths there, including children.
According to the Israeli military, during the course of the previous day, it destroyed a weapons manufacturing plant, raided a Hamas complex and discovered some 250 missiles among other armaments. It also damaged multiple sites that were used to fire rockets against Israeli land.
Tawfik Abu Breika, an elderly Palestinian, claimed that an Israeli airstrike struck his residential block in Khan Younis without notice, bringing down multiple structures and inflicting deaths.
“There is no humanity or morality left in the world,” Breika told Reuters while neighbors picked through the debris. “This is the third month that we are facing death and destruction.”
According to ABC and the Wall Street Journal, the Israeli military started pumping saltwater into Hamas’ tunnel network, where the resistance organization is thought to be concealing weapons and militants and using as a base for street attacks on Israeli soldiers.
Unverified rumors that there were no hostages in the tunnels were shared by Biden. According to some prisoners released during a ceasefire, they had been detained in tunnels. The Israeli military declared that it was investigating the claims.
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