▲ Destruction of Gaza seen yesterday from Israel’s southern border.Photo Afp
AFP, Reuters, Sputnik and Ap
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, December 12, 2024, p. 22
New York. The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) yesterday demanded by a large majority an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, in a non-binding resolution that both Israel and the United States rejected.
In this context, the UN denounced that humanitarian aid to northern Gaza was largely blocked for the last 66 days. This has left between 65,000 and 75,000 Palestinians without access to food, water, electricity or medical care, the agency said.
The international organization requested $4.7 billion to provide humanitarian aid next year to 3 million people in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The resolution, which obtained 158 votes in favor, nine against and 13 abstentions, also requested the immediate and unconditional release of all hostagesin a wording similar to the one that was blocked in the Security Council at the end of November due to a veto by the United States.
Washington advocates that a ceasefire be conditional on the release of all the hostages in Gaza, arguing that otherwise Hamas would have no incentive to release them.
The deputy ambassador of the United States, Robert Wood, reiterated his country’s position by saying that it would be shameful and wrong adopt the project.
The text required immediate access to extensive humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, subjected to more than a year of war with Israel, especially in the besieged northern region of that territory.
Before the vote, Israeli ambassador Danny Danon indicated that the resolutions discussed surpass all logic. Today’s vote is not a vote for compassion, but for complicity.
Dozens of representatives from member states addressed the assembly before the vote, in support of the Palestinians.
The resolution asked the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to present proposals on how the United Nations can help advance accountabilityusing existing mechanisms or creating new ones based on previous experiences.
aid agency
A second draft resolution approved called on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN-run Palestinian refugee aid agency and allow it to continue operations in the country.
Meanwhile, the Israeli offensive on the strip continued with attacks in northern and central Gaza that killed at least 33 Palestinians, the majority in the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Nuseirat, medical sources reported.
The Israeli army reported that two rockets were fired from the center of the Gaza Strip towards Israel, but landed in open areas and caused no injuries.
Israel later ordered the evacuation of residents of the Al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza, citing rocket fire from that area. He urged them to go to a designated humanitarian area near the Mediterranean coast.
Palestinian and UN sources indicate that there are no safe areas in the enclave, which is devastated. Israel accuses Hamas of hiding among the civilian population, which the militia denies and calls Israel’s excuse for justify their indiscriminate attacks.
The Israeli army and the Shin Bet internal security service reported that the head of the Nujba force, considered Hamas’s elite, Fehmi Salami, was killed in an attack in Gaza.
