Israel Under World Pressure To End War Against Hamas
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW YORK/JERUSALEM/GAZA (Worthy News) – Israel came under more world pressure Wednesday after the United Nations General Assembly and even its ally, the United States, criticized the Jewish nation’s military operations against Hamas in Gaza.
In a non-binding resolution, the U.N. demanded “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza amid mounting concern about the rising death toll and destruction in the Palestinian enclave.
A majority of 153 nations voted for the ceasefire resolution, while 10 voted against it and 23 abstained. It was seen as a rebuke to the United States, which repeatedly blocked ceasefire calls in the more influential U.N. Security Council.
The vote, praised as “historic” by Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour, came as the war between Israel and Hamas entered its third month.
Tuesday’s brief resolution calls for a ceasefire, for all parties to comply with international law, and for humanitarian access to hostages as well as their “immediate and unconditional” release.
It did not condemn Hamas for atrocities that Israel said sparked its retaliatory strikes.
Separately, U.S. President Joe Biden, who seeks re-election next year, said Israel is starting “to lose global support over its indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.
STRONGEST CRITICISM
Biden’s comments at a fundraising event marked his most substantial criticism yet of Israel’s leadership after he faced growing pressure from, even within his own Democratic Party, to limit Israel’s military campaign.
The president had offered public support to the country since it launched retaliatory strikes following Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people in Israel.
While saying that Israel could still count on U.S. backing, Biden warned that it is rapidly losing global support. “Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now, it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world,” he told donors Tuesday in Washington. “But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” he said at the 2024 presidential election campaign event.
However, with pro-Israel voters also important, he hastened to add that there was “no question about the need to take on Hamas” and Israel had “every right” to do so.
The diplomatic wrangling came as Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza, with the main focus on Khan Younis in the south. There’s also been fighting in Rafah near the Egyptian border, witnesses said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the health system in Gaza has gone from 36 hospitals to only 11 in just 66 days – and those are only partially functioning.
HUMAN SHIELDS
Israel countered that Hamas had used many hospitals as places to hide its fighters and weapons and as command centers.
It accuses the Islamist group, which it condemns as a Palestinian terrorist organization, of using civilians as human shields.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims Israel’s military response has killed more than 18,200 people and injured more than 50,000, but those figures have been difficult to verify.
As clashes continued in Gaza, there was also Israeli-Palestinian fighting in Jenin in the other Palestinian enclave, the West Bank, where six people were killed, including five in a drone strike, said the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel says its operations are aimed at Hamas and other “terrorists” and denies it deliberately targets civilians.
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