Bombay Durpun - UN General Assembly to vote on 'unconditional' ceasefire in Gaza

Late last month, Washington used its veto power on the Council -- as it has before -- to protect its ally Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

It blocked the Council's attempt to call for a ceasefire, saying a link between a ceasefire and a release of all hostages had to be maintained.

Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be "shameful and wrong" to adopt the draft.

The General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council, which has been largely paralyzed on hot-button issues such as Gaza and Ukraine, and this time is no different.

The draft resolution, which is expected to pass but would be non-binding, calls for both "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."

The resolution also demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory.

During the debate before the vote, which is due to take place at about 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), those who spoke largely backed the draft.

"Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar told the Assembly. "History is the harshest critic of inaction."

That criticism was echoed by Algeria's deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui, who said: "The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow."

Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. That count includes hostages who died or were killed while being held in Gaza.

Militants abducted 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

- 'Bleeding heart of Palestine' -

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the United Nations.

"Gaza today is the bleeding heart of Palestine," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week during the first day of debate in the Assembly's special session on the issue.

"The images of our children burning in tents, with no food in their bellies and no hopes and no horizon for the future, and after having endured pain and loss for more than a year, should haunt the conscience of the world and prompt action to end this nightmare," he said, calling for an end to the "impunity."

Israel meanwhile denounced the draft resolution, which calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present "proposals on how the United Nations could help to advance accountability."

"If you truly want peace, it begins with dismantling this infrastructure of hate and the glorification of terror," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said.

An earlier draft seen by AFP aimed to establish an international mechanism to help investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes committed in the Palestinian territories since 2014, but that language was subsequently removed.

A second draft resolution up for a vote on Wednesday will call on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and allow it to continue its operations, after Israel voted to ban it.

The ban, which is due to take effect on January 28, sparked global condemnation, including from key ally the United States.

Israel has long been critical of the agency, but tensions escalated in January amid accusations that about a dozen of its staff took part in Hamas's devastating attack.

R.Altobelli--BD