Israel’s offensive has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children…reports Asian Lite News
India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and reiterated the demand for immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban. The 193-member General Assembly voted on Wednesday at the 10th emergency special session to adopt the draft resolution ‘Demand for ceasefire in Gaza’, introduced by Indonesia.
India was among the 158 nations that voted in favour of the resolution while nine member-states, including Israel and the US, voted against it. Among the 13 nations that abstained were Albania and Ukraine. The resolution demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates itsdemand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
It demanded that the parties fully, unconditionally and without delay implement all the provisions of the Security Council resolution of June 2024 regarding an “immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, the return of the remains of hostages who have been killed, the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighbourhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”
The resolution demanded immediate access by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip to basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to its survival, while “rejecting any effort to starve Palestinians”.
It further demanded the facilitation of full, rapid, safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance, at scale and under the coordination of the United Nations, to and throughout the Gaza Strip and its delivery to all Palestinian civilians who need it, including to civilians in besieged north Gaza, who are in urgent need of immediate humanitarian relief.
It also demanded that the parties fully comply with their obligations under international law in relation to persons they detain, including by releasing all those arbitrarily detained.
It called upon all parties to fully comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially women and children.
It reiterated its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution, with the Gaza Strip as part of the Palestinian State, and where two democratic States, Palestine and Israel, live side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders, consistent with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions.
The resolution rejected any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of the Gaza Strip, and stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.
Last week, India voted in favour of a General Assembly resolution that called for the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and reiterated the call for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
The draft resolution ‘Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine’ tabled by Senegal was overwhelmingly adopted in the 193-member General Assembly on Tuesday. India was among the 157 nations that voted in favour, while eight member-states — Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the United States — voted against it. Cameroon, Czechia, Ecuador, Georgia, Paraguay, Ukraine and Uruguay abstained.
Israeli attacks kill at least 28
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in Gaza, including seven children, Palestinian health officials reported, as the region is gripped by food shortages and fears of famine.
The attacks were launched hours after the UN general assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
According to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken, a house was flattened in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, while two separate strikes targeted local committees assigned to secure aid convoys, resulting in the deaths of 15 individuals.
A video shared by Gaza’s local media showed the aftermath of the attacks, with aid convoy security personnel allegedly targeted near Khan Younis.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on the latest reported attack on security guards protecting aid shipments. According to local media, their work was integral in facilitating the delivery of essential supplies to displaced Palestinians in Gaza, where food shortages and the looming threat of famine persist.
On Wednesday, the UN general assembly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which has been banned by Israel.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said the challenges faced by humanitarian operations deemed them “unnecessarily impossible”. This was due to a combination of factors including “the ongoing siege, hurdles from Israeli authorities, political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid, lack of safety on aid routes and targeting of local police” securing aid convoys.
Lazzarini urged Israel to guarantee the unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza and emphasised that it “must refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers”.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
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