The UN General Assembly met on Tuesday afternoon in Emergency Special Session on the decades long Israel-Palestine conflict and as the ongoing crisis in Gaza shows no signs of abating.
Member States adopted a resolution, demanding an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and well as “ensuring humanitarian access”.
- It passed with a large majority of 153 in favour and 10 against, with 23 abstentions
- The resolution also reiterated the General Assembly’s demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, “notably with regard to the protection of civilians”
- Prior to the resolution, two amendments making specific reference to extremist group Hamas were voted down by members
- The General Assembly will resume the emergency session on Friday afternoon in New York starting at 3pm
- At the start of the session, Assembly President Dennis Francis underscored the urgency of ending the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza. “We have one singular priority – only one – to save lives,” he stressed
- Check out this explainer on what an emergency special session of the Assembly is and how it works
