Hamas: an overwhelming majority at the UN for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza – L’Express

International pressure is mounting against Israel, with the overwhelming majority of the United Nations General Assembly calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, which has become “hell on earth” according to the UN due to incessant bombings and humanitarian conditions that are more terrible every day. While at the same time Joe Biden warned Israel against the erosion of international support.

⇒ A “humanitarian ceasefire” adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

⇒ Biden denounces “indiscriminate” bombing of Israel.

⇒ One hundred and fifteen Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

Taking over from a paralyzed Security Council, the UN General Assembly on Tuesday called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, in a resolution adopted by 153 votes for, 10 against, and 23 abstentions. But the text, non-binding, does not condemn Hamas, an absence castigated by Israel and the United States who voted against.

The population in the Gaza Strip, where 85% of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced and entire neighborhoods destroyed by bombings, is experiencing “hell on earth”, said the director of the Gaza Strip agency. UN for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini.

In a joint statement, the Prime Ministers of Australia Antony Albanese, Canadian Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Christopher Luxon defended the right of their Israeli ally to fight the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in retaliation for the bloody attack of October 7 which 1,200 dead on Israeli territory. But they were also alarmed by the continued shelling of the Gaza Strip by Israel, where more than 18,000 people have died, according to Hamas, and where the humanitarian situation is catastrophic. “We are alarmed by the diminishing security space for civilians in Gaza,” they said. “The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians,” the three leaders added.

“There is no doubt about the need to eliminate Hamas,” the US president said at a reception in Washington to raise funds for his re-election campaign. But, he warned, while Israel currently has the support of “Europe” and “most of the world,” “they are losing that support with the indiscriminate bombing which take place”. Until now, Mr. Biden had refrained from talking about “indiscriminate bombings”. Earlier in the day, the American president had already taken the liberty of criticizing the “most conservative government in history”, urging his Israeli counterpart to change it.

The Israeli army announced on Wednesday the deaths of 115 soldiers in the Gaza Strip since the start of the offensive against Palestinian Hamas. Ten soldiers died during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the deadliest day for the Israeli army since the start of its ground operations on October 27 in the Palestinian territory.

Six Palestinians were killed Tuesday in Jenin by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, with the Israeli army reporting an operation against an explosives factory in this town in the occupied West Bank. Requested by AFP, the Israeli army indicated that it had carried out an operation in Jenin which made it possible to discover “explosive devices placed to attack the security forces”. She claims to have seized weapons, ammunition and other explosives.