The UN General Assembly has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged "all necessary measures" to pressure Israel into ending its genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Following a US veto of a similar push in the Security Council last week, the General Assembly adopted on Thursday the non-binding resolution by a vote of 149-12, with 19 abstentions.
US and its ally Israel along with 10 other countries stood against the resolution.
The General Assembly also adopted a draft resolution urging member states to take all measures necessary to ensure Israel's compliance with international law.
The resolution, which also highlights the dire humanitarian situation in Palestine, notes the need for accountability to ensure that Israel respects its international law obligations.
Submitted by Spain along with more than 30 other states, the resolution was backed by 149 countries, with 12 voting against and 19 abstaining.
"As a matter of urgency, the international community must launch a robust message, a message with regard to the situation in Gaza, and we strongly encourage all member states to vote in favour of this draft resolution," Spain's UN envoy Hector Gomez Hernandez said before the vote.
Hernandez noted that the draft resolution stressed the commitment to the two-state solution while "firmly rejecting any attempts at demographic change in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."
Israel using 'starvation as weapons'
Prior to the vote, Palestine's envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour described the wording of the draft resolution as "the strongest to date on these matters".
"Israel's continuing disregard and blatant contempt for the rules of international law, the resolutions of UN bodies and the positions of states around the world must lead to the translation of this language into resolute action, and it has to be done now," Mansour said.
Arguing that the resolution "strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access", he said it also "stresses the obligation not to deprive civilians" of their basic needs for survival in the enclave.
"No arms, no money, no trade to oppress Palestinians, ethnically cleanse them and steal their land. Use the tools available to you," he urged.
US Charge d’Affaires ad interim Dorothy Shea called the emergency session on Palestine "another failure on the part of the United Nations to condemn Hamas".
Arguing that the draft resolution "sends an unacceptable message", Shea said the US does not support "one-sided measures that fail to condemn Hamas. We will not support resolutions that do not call for violent terrorist groups to disarm and leave Gaza and fail to recognise Israel's right to defend itself."
She also claimed that it "does nothing to bring calm to Gaza" and that "it also does nothing to advance a realistic diplomatic solution to further the cause of peace. It is rife with serious defects."
US complicity
The Israeli army has pursued a genocide against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 64,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, rejecting international demands for a ceasefire.
The dead include some 11,000 Palestinians feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes.
Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Washington allocates $3.8 billion in annual military funding to its long-standing ally Israel.
Since October 2023, the US has spent more than $22 billion supporting Israel's genocide in Gaza and war in neighbouring countries.
Despite senior US officials criticising Israel regarding the high civilian death toll in Gaza, Washington has, thus far, resisted calls to place conditions on any arms transfers.
