UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly will vote Thursday on a US-drafted resolution that would condemn the Palestinian Hamas movement, a measure championed by US Ambassador Nikki Haley.
The United States won crucial backing from the European Union for the draft resolution that condemns the firing by Hamas of rockets into Israel and demands an end to the violence.
If adopted, it would mark the first time that the assembly has taken aim at Hamas, the Islamist militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
All 28 EU countries agreed to support the measure after the United States included a mention of relevant UN resolutions in the text that does not however refer to the two-state solution.
In a statement, the US mission to the United Nations said it had hoped to put the draft resolution to a vote on Monday but that the Palestinians had pushed for a delay until Thursday.
“The issue before the United Nations on Thursday is not whether it supports one form or another of a Middle East peace plan,” the US mission said.
“Each country will be asked to vote for or against the activities of Hamas, along with other militant groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
“If the UN cannot bring itself to adopt this resolution, then it has no business being involved in peace discussions,” it added.
The European Union, like the United States, considers Hamas a terror group, but the 28-nation bloc is divided over how to support peace efforts.
Haley, who will step down as UN ambassador in January, has steadfastly supported Israel in its confrontation with Hamas and chastised the United Nations for criticizing both sides.
The vote on Thursday will follow the adoption in the assembly of about a dozen resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that condemn Israeli settlements and call for progress toward the two-state solution.
Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are non-binding, but they carry political weight and are seen as a barometer of world opinion.
The United States put forward the resolution as it prepares to unveil new peace proposals that the Palestinians have already rejected.
The Palestinians have severed ties with the administration of President Donald Trump after the decision nearly a year ago to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and declare the city Israel’s capital.
The US administration has also cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid.
The Palestinians see the city as the capital of their future state. International consensus has been that Jerusalem’s status must be negotiated between the two sides.
UN to vote Thursday on US measure condemning Hamas
UN to vote Thursday on US measure condemning Hamas
- The vote on Thursday will follow the adoption in the assembly of about a dozen resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that condemn Israeli settlements
Israel police say two dead in stabbing, car ramming attack
- The attack came a day after an Israeli military reservist dressed in civilian clothes rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man in the West Bank
JERUSALEM: A Palestinian from the Israeli-occupied West Bank killed a man and a woman in a stabbing and car-ramming attack in northern Israel before he was shot and wounded on Friday, Israeli police and rescuers said.
“Preliminary investigation indicates this was a rolling terror attack that began in the city of Beit Shean, where a pedestrian was run over,” the police said in a statement, adding the victim was a 68-year-old man.
“Later, a young woman was stabbed near Road 71, and the suspect was ultimately engaged with gunfire near Maonot Junction in Afula following intervention by a civilian bystander,” it said, adding that the attacker was taken to a hospital.
Both the victims succumbed to the injuries, Israel’s emergency service provider Magen David Adom said in a statement.
MDA also reported that a 16-year-old teenager was slightly injured when “hit by a vehicle.”
The Israeli military said the attacker had “infiltrated into Israeli territory several days ago.”
The attack came a day after an Israeli military reservist dressed in civilian clothes rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man in the West Bank.
