The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will vote today (Thursday) on a U.S.-drafted resolution condemning egregious violations undertaken by the Palestinian Hamas movement.
The organization – which rules the Gaza Strip and has done for the last 11 years – stands accused of numerous actions worthy of international condemnation.
In what will likely be outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s last action at the institution she has consistently accused of having a strong in-built anti-Israel bias, the resolution condemns Hamas and its use of violence, including “repeatedly firing rockets into Israel, using “airborne incendiary devices” and the use of resources to build “military infrastructure” targeting civilians.
Jason Greenblatt, Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations tweeted on Wednesday that the root cause of Palestinian suffering in Gaza could laid at Hamas’ door.
If countries truly want to help Gaza, & start down the path to peace, they should vote in favor of the condemnation of Hamas, without any obstruction. Anything else does not help Gaza & absolutely hurts peace.
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) December 5, 2018
The tabling of the resolution comes amid further revelations concerning November’s botched IDF operation – the fuse that lit such a furious Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad response. Recent reports suggested that the IDF special forces unit was embedded within a humanitarian aid organization operating within the Strip for weeks before the incident. It is apparently a common practice in covert warfare, but goes against international law.
It will come as a surprise to no-one that proposed resolution was met with diplomatic wrangling; with the Palestinians tabling an amendment to the U.S.-endorsed text to include a reference to UN resolutions condemning Israeli settlements, a call for negotiation on East Jerusalem and a pledge to support the two-state solution. After discussions with the Europeans, the Palestinians withdrew their amendment, but committed to tabling a separate resolution, according to diplomatic sources.
Since Haley took up her post in January 2017, there has been a sea-change in the United States’ attitude toward the United Nations. She sent a letter to all UN missions to outline that “the United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously.”
The UNGA will have an historic opportunity to condemn Hamas for the first time in its history. Although resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are non-binding, they do carry political weight and might help send a message to Gaza’s Islamist rulers.
