UN General Assembly to vote on ‘unconditional’ ceasefire in Gaza

The UN General Assembly is set to vote Wednesday on a draft resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of all hostages.

The non-binding resolution also demands unrestricted humanitarian aid access to Gaza, particularly in the north, which has suffered over a year of conflict. This follows the US vetoing a similar measure in the Security Council.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,208 people and involved the kidnapping of 251 hostages, has seen Israel’s retaliatory offensive result in at least 44,786 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to UN-reliable figures from Hamas health authorities.

Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour called Gaza the “bleeding heart of Palestine,” urging the international community to act. Conversely, Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon criticized the resolution for not addressing what he described as Hamas’s “infrastructure of hate.”

A second draft resolution will address Israel’s planned January ban on UNRWA, the UN agency providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians, which has faced global backlash.

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