AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn violence by Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly.
The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry political weight. The U.S. text received 87 votes in favor, 58 against, 32 abstentions and 16 countries did not vote.
In an earlier procedural move requested by Kuwait, the 193-member body narrowly voted to require two-thirds support and not a simple majority for adoption of the draft resolution.
Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had written to member states on Monday to urge them to vote for the U.S.-drafted text, warning them: “The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously.”
Haley, who will step down at the end of the year, has been a staunch defender of Israel.
“Before the General Assembly can credibly advocate compromise and reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel, it must on record, unambiguously and unconditionally, condemn Hamas terrorism,” Haley told the body before the vote.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that “rejecting the American drafted resolution against the resistance represents a blow to the American administration and reaffirms the legitimacy of the resistance.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said the countries that rejected the draft resolution should be ashamed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended those that voted in favor.
For more than a decade Gaza has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. The economy has collapsed, creating what the World Bank describes as a humanitarian crisis with shortages of water, electricity and medicine.
Iran’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Eshagh Al Habib said that United States trying to deflect the attention of the world from the root causes of the conflict and said “we recognize Hamas as a legitimate resistance movement fighting for the liberation of Palestinian territory from foreign occupation.”
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source : Reuters
Friday
7 December 2018
9:03:53 AM
919652
A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn violence by Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly.