UN General Assembly Votes to Condemn Israel’s Excessive Force Against Gaza Protests

14 Jun

10:59 AM

The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning Israel’s use of excessive force on Palestinian civilians.

The resolution passed by a vote of 120-8 with 45 countries abstaining.

A U.S. bid to condemn Hamas, a Palestinian fundamentalist group, for attacks on Israel also received a majority vote in favor — 62-58 with 42 abstaining — but the president of the General Assembly rejected it because it didn’t have the required two-thirds majority to pass.

The resolution is unlikely to lead to any action against Israel because the United States, a close ally of the nation, would veto it.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who introduced the amendment to blame Hamas, criticized the UNGA for focusing on violence in Israel instead of in Nicaragua, Yemen or Myanmar.

“Gaza is important, but what makes it more urgent than many other desperate places?” she asked. “What makes Gaza different for some is that attacking Israel is their favorite sport.”

The primary resolution was introduced by representatives in Turkey, on behalf of the Islamic Cooperation, and Algeria, on behalf of the Arab League.

Turkish Ambassador to the United Nations Feridun Siniroglu told the UNGA before the vote that the resolution wasn’t about taking sides.

“It is about supporting de-escalation on the ground. It is about deterring further violence from taking place,” he said. “It is a call to the secretary-general to come up with his recommendations on how to protect civilians from further attack. It is a call to all sides to put an end to loss of lives.”

reprinted from the UN News Agency