Nigeria has joined 119 members of the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) to vote for an immediate humanitarian truce in the war between
Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
The general assembly convened on Friday in New York, United
States, as Israel intensified its bombardment on Gaza after announcing an
expansion in ground operations.
Telephone and internet services have been cut off in Gaza
and residents said Friday’s air strikes were the most intense they had seen
since the war broke out three weeks ago.
During the UNGA session, the 193-member body passed the
resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce
leading to a cessation of hostilities”.
The UNGA also said it “firmly rejects any attempts at the
forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population”.
The resolution also stated the need to avoid a wider
escalation of the fighting and demanded increased humanitarian aid for Gaza.
The move was led by a group of 22 Arab countries and 120
countries voted in favour, with 14 countries voting against, and 45 abstaining.
The US, Israel, Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Hungary,
Guatemala, Papua Guinea, and Nauru were among those who voted against it.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said “a
ceasefire means giving Hamas time to rearm itself,” adding that the vote was
not intended to bring peace but to “tie Israel’s hands”.
Meanwhile, a Canadian-introduced amendment to the resolution
that would have added a condemnation of the Hamas attack did not receive the
necessary two-thirds majority.
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