Biden warns Israel is ‘starting to lose support’ as UN adopts truce resolution

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

The non-binding resolution was adopted with 153 countries voting in favour, 23 abstaining, and 10 countries including Israel and the United States voting against it.

India has voted in favour of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly.

The Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, said, “India welcomes the fact that the international community has been able to find common ground to address the multiple challenges facing the region right now.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said Israel has now started to lose global support due to the indiscriminate bombing in Gaza.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Ahead of the UN General Assembly passing a resolution about Gaza ceasefire, US President Joe Biden said Israel currently has support from most of the world including the US and European Union, “but they’re starting to lose that support”.

The US President cited “indiscriminate bombing that takes place” as the key reason for the adverse global opinion towards Israel.

The 193-member General Assembly voted to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. While 153 countries favoured it, 10 voted against, and 23 abstained. The countries that opposed the resolution are the United States, Israel, Austria, Czechia, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.

The resolution received higher support than it did for an October 27 Arab-sponsored resolution that called for a ‘humanitarian truce’ leading to a cessation of hostilities, where the vote was 120-14 with 45 abstentions.

Israel started flooding Gaza tunnels as they intensify their assault against Hamas. Tel Aviv officials told the US it has begun “carefully testing out” flooding some of Hamas’ Gaza tunnels with seawater “on a limited basis” to see if it will work to degrade them on a larger scale, CNN reported quoting US officials.

US President Biden said he does not know if Israeli hostages are remaining in Gaza tunnels. Asked about Israel flooding the Gaza tunnels, he said, “With regard to the flooding of the tunnels. I’m not at lib-, well. There (are) assertions being made that … there’s no hostages in any of these tunnels. But I don’t know that for a fact.”

Meanwhile, Israel declared that 19 of 135 of its citizens still in Gaza captivity are dead in absentia. The Israel Defense Force also stated that its troops have recovered the bodies of two hostages, including a Tanzanian national, according to the government press office.

Following Binden’s remark that Israel is “losing support”, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson said Israel knows “how to explain how we operate”. IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the army distinguishes between Hamas operatives and civilians and is in close contact with the US to demonstrate as much directly.

Yemen’s Houthi militia, who are in action supporting Hamas, has warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid travelling toward the occupied Palestinian territories. The Iran-aligned group has also claimed an attack on a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas welcomed the United Nations’ demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and urged the international community to continue pressuring Israel to abide by the resolution, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist group said in a statement.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk described the situation in Gaza as extremely precarious, saying the enclave found itself on the verge of being “well beyond breakdown.” “If you look at the humanitarian situation at the moment, it is so precarious… extremely precarious. It’s on the verge of well beyond breakdown,” he said.

As per the latest estimate according to the Gaza health ministry, Israel’s assault on Gaza to root out Hamas has killed at least 18,205 Palestinians, including many children, and wounded nearly 50,000 since October 7.