The UN General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to adopt a draft resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the unrestricted flow of aid to the starving population of the territory, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The resolution was introduced by Spain in coordination with the Palestinian delegation and a bloc of more than 30 nations, including Saudi Arabia.
A total of 149 nations voted in favor of the resolution, and 12 against, including Israel and the US. Nineteen abstained, including India.
The resounding support for the measure came despite lobbying from Israel against what it described as a “politically motivated, counter-productive charade.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, said the resolution “rewards the terrorists responsible for the suffering of our hostages. This is not a peace proposal. It is surrender.”
General Assembly resolutions are nonbinding on member states but they carry significant moral and political weight as a reflection of prevailing global opinion.
The president of the General Assembly, Philemon Yang, opened the session by calling on member states to transform their commitment to international law and justice into “meaningful action on the ground … and end the horrors in Gaza.”
Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, urged the international community to take “requisite actions to end this genocide” and secure the release of the hostages.
He said: “Israel’s blatant contempt for international law and UN resolutions must lead to resolute action, and it has to be done now.
“No arms, no money, no trade to oppress Palestinians, ethnically cleanse them and steal their land. This illegal, immoral situation cannot continue. It has to stop and stop immediately.
“We reject attacks on civilians, whether Palestinians or Israelis. Enough bloodshed, enough suffering.
“The actions you take today to stop the killing, displacement and famine will determine how many more Palestinian children die a horrific death. The actions you take today will determine if Palestinian children ever get a chance at life.”
Speaking of behalf of Gulf Cooperation Council member states, Kuwait’s permanent representative to the UN, Tarek Albanai, accused Israel of committing genocide and using starvation as a weapon of war. He called on the international community to uphold its responsibilities and “end these atrocities.”
The GCC has urged all countries to officially recognize the State of Palestine at a summit that will take place in New York next week on a two-state solution to the wider conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
“It is high time Palestine became a full-fledged member of the UN,” Albanai said. Palestine has held the status of Permanent Observer State at the UN since 2012 but is denied full membership.
The General Assembly vote came a week after the US vetoed a similar resolution in the Security Council, arguing that it would undermine Washington-led negotiations aimed at brokering a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The remaining 14 members of the council members backed the resolution.
Spain’s permanent representative to the UN, Hector Gomez Hernandez, introduced the draft resolution to the General Assembly and called on the international community to send “a robust message with the regard to Gaza.”
The text of the resolution, presented under the Uniting for Peace framework during the resumption of an Emergency Special Session on Palestine, went further than previous resolutions on the issue. It included language that underscored the need for accountability to ensure Israeli compliance with the rule of international law, a provision that drew a sharp rebuke from Israel and concern from the US.
“This is both false and defamatory,” Danon said in a letter to member states this week, in which he described the draft resolution as “immensely flawed and harmful.”
He warned that its undermines hostage negotiations, and criticized its failure to condemn the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage.
The vote on the resolution followed stark warnings from UN agencies that famine is looming in Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million people. Israeli authorities lifted an 11-week humanitarian blockade on the enclave in mid-May but aid deliveries remain sporadic.
The text of the resolution supports a UN-coordinated plan to resume deliveries of humanitarian aid and urges all states to always protect aid workers, UN personnel and medical staff in accordance with the principles of international law.
The resolution, the text of which was seen by Arab News, explicitly states that it “strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare,” and demands that Israel end its blockade on Gaza and “open all border crossings” to ensure aid reaches the Palestinian population “immediately and at scale.”
It calls on UN member states to “individually and collectively take all measures necessary,” consistent with the rule of international law and the UN Charter, to ensure Israeli compliance with its legal obligations. It also reaffirms the UN’s permanent responsibility for the Palestinian question until a two-state solution is achieved.
The vote on Thursday was the fourth on a Gaza ceasefire resolution by the General Assembly since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. The US has vetoed several ceasefire resolutions within the Security Council, even as support in the General Assembly has grown and abstentions from such votes have steadily dropped.
Dorothy Shea, the US envoy to the UN, described the Spanish-backed resolution as “yet another failure of the UN to condemn Hamas.” She said it does nothing to help free the hostages, improve lives of civilians in Gaza or move closer to a ceasefire, and instead sends message to Hamas that it was being rewarded.
“We will not support resolutions that do not call for violent terrorist groups to disarm and leave Gaza, and fail to recognize Israel’s right to defend itself,” Shea said.
“This resolution falsely accuses Israel of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, while at the same time ignoring Gaza Humanitarian Foundation efforts to cut out Hamas and deliver aid consistent with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.”
The vote took place in the run-up to a UN conference next week that aims to revive the international push for a two-state solution, which will be co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France.
The US warned that countries who back “anti-Israel actions” in connection with the conference could be seen to be opposing US foreign policy and might face diplomatic consequences.
Despite the US efforts to dissuade support for the Spanish resolution, it gathered wide sponsorship ahead of the vote. Alongside Spain, the initiators included Chile, Egypt, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Malaysia, Norway, Qatar, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkiye and the State of Palestine. Additional sponsors, numbering more than 30, included Brazil, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Pakistan.
Palestinian casualties during the ongoing war in Gaza have surpassed 55,000. Thousands more are believed to be dead under the rubble of countless destroyed buildings. The resolution explicitly condemns the destruction of civilian infrastructure and stresses the importance of protecting humanitarian operations and medical facilities.
It also references Security Council Resolution 2735, adopted a year ago, which outlines a US-backed road map for a phased ceasefire, hostage release, and eventual Israeli withdrawal, but has yet to be implemented.
UN General Assembly overwhelmingly votes for Gaza ceasefire resolution amid US, Israeli opposition
https://arab.news/c8nqz
UN General Assembly overwhelmingly votes for Gaza ceasefire resolution amid US, Israeli opposition
- 149 nations vote in favor, 12 against, including Israel and the US, and 19 abstain, including India
- Experts and human rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza
- US describes the result as a reward for Hamas, says it does nothing to relieve the suffering of Gazans or secure release of hostages, and undermines negotiations
In rare overlap, Chinese Muslims observe Ramadan with Lunar New Year
- Lunar New Year started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks
- Chinese Indonesians make up about 3 percent of the Indonesian population
JAKARTA: Every year, on the first day of Lunar New Year, Febriani visits relatives and gathers for a feast with her Chinese Muslim family, part of a long-standing tradition honoring their ethnic heritage.
But this year, as Thursday marks the beginning of Ramadan, she is celebrating two important occasions within the same week, in a rare overlap that last took place in 1995.
“I’m very happy and grateful that Lunar New Year and Ramadan are celebrated so closely. I observe both every year, so it’s truly special,” she told Arab News.
Widely observed across Asia, the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year festival is believed to date back to the 14th century B.C., to the times of the Shang Dynasty, China’s earliest ruling dynasty, when people celebrated good harvests.
In 2026, it started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks. For many, celebrations typically involve elaborate feasts, giving children pocket money in red envelopes, and watching dragon dance parades.
In Indonesia, Chinese-descent citizens make up an estimated 3 percent of the country’s Muslim-majority population of more than 280 million. While most are either Buddhists or Christians, a small minority professes Islam.
For 25-year-old Febriani, both Lunar New Year and Ramadan are equally meaningful.
“The two celebrations teach us to strengthen bonds, to share with one another, and to become closer to family,” she said.
“They are both important to me because they happen only once every year and they’re always an occasion to gather with the extended family. It is also a chance to self-reflect and strengthen relationships with your loved ones.”
For Naga Kunadi, whose family lives in Central Java’s Cepu district, Chinese New Year is all about embracing his ethnic identity.
Earlier in the week, his family was busy preparing for the new year’s feast, which was a fusion of Chinese and Indonesian dishes, such as claypot tofu, meatball soup and shumai, or steamed dumplings.
“To celebrate Chinese New Year, we prepared halal Chinese food at home. It’s also a way to introduce to my children the traditions from our Chinese side, but there’s a bit of a fusion because my wife is Javanese,” Kunadi told Arab News.
Kunadi, an Islamic teacher at the Lautze Mosque in Jakarta, sees both Chinese New Year and Ramadan as opportunities to teach important life values for his two children.
Upholding Chinese New Year traditions with his family is for him a way of preserving his ethnic heritage.
“We want to preserve cultural values as long as it does not clash with our religion,” he said.
“If we leave our culture behind, we might lose our identity, so this is something I want to teach my children.”
The fasting month of Ramadan, on the other hand, gives him a chance to teach and practice honesty.
“I want to focus on the religious and moral aspects during the holy month of Ramadan, when we practice honesty on a personal level,” Kunadi said.
“There’s always an opportunity to eat or snack in secret without anybody knowing, but we train ourselves not to do that. For me, Ramadan is a time for everyone to put honesty into practice, including myself and my children.”
