UN General Assembly overwhelmingly votes in favor of a ceasefire in emergency meeting: More than three-quarters of the 193-member UN General Assembly voted on Tuesday in favor of a non-binding resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza. The session, called by Egypt and Mauritania in response to the US blocking the Security Council from acting last week, saw 153 countries vote for the resolution, and just 10 countries — including Israel, the US, and Austria — vote against. Twenty-three nations — including the UK, Germany, Italy and Ukraine — abstained. A resolution requires a two-thirds majority to pass.

The tide of global opinion is only getting stronger: This is the second time the assembly has voted in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza since the start of the war. In an emergency session in October, 121 countries voted in favor of a resolution that called for an “immediate, durable humanitarian truce.”

Don’t expect much to change: Egypt and Mauritania invoked UN resolution 377A(V), which can be used to call a meeting if the Security Council “fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” Nevertheless, any general assembly vote is non-binding and is unable to compel the Security Council to act.

Egypt issues warning: Failure to apply this new resolution could “lead the region to a full-fledged war,” Egypt’s ambassador to the UN Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud told the assembly. He said that Israel was using genocide as a weapon of war, and accused its backers of having “despicable” double standards.

ALSO-

  • Gaza’s supply of freshwater is in peril: The Israeli military is pumping seawater into Hamas’s tunnel network in Gaza, which could endanger Gaza’s fresh water supply, US officials reportedly told the Wall Street Journal.
  • UAE speaks on reconstruction: The UAE will only help finance the reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure if there’s a “serious” US-backed roadmap towards a two-state solution, the UAE’s ambassador to the UN said.Netanyahu reportedly told the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee that he will be expanding the Abraham Accords “the day after the war” and persuade the UAE and Saudi Arabia to finance the reconstruction process.
Tags: