In October, India had abstained in the General Assembly on a resolution that had called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza strip.

New York: The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution ‘Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations’ demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Faced with the “challenge” to “strike the right balance”, India voted in favour of the ceasefire resolution in the UNGA’s emergency session on the Middle East on Tuesday (local time).

As many as 153 nations, including India, voted in favour of the resolution, while 10, including US, Israel and Austria, voted against and 23 countries, including Argentina, Ukraine and Germany abstained from voting.

The resolution, sponsored among others by Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Palestine, demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and reiterated its demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, “notably with regard to the protection of civilians.” It also demanded the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access.”

After the resolution was adopted with 153 votes, India’s Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj, outlined the complicating factors, the terrorist attack on October 7 on Israel, the humanitarian crisis and the deaths of civilians and said, “Our challenge in this extraordinarily difficult time is to strike the right balance.”

“We, therefore, welcome the fact that the international community has been able to find a common ground to address the multiple challenges facing the region right now,” she added.

“There is the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7 and the concern for the hostages taken at that time. There is an enormous humanitarian crisis and the large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially of women and children.”

“There is the issue of observing international humanitarian law in all circumstances. And there is the endeavour to find a peaceful and lasting two states solution to the long-standing Palestine question,” she added.

She said that India welcomes the unity of international community in finding a common ground the address the multiple challenges faced by the region at the present time.

#WATCH | At the United Nations General Assembly, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj says, “India has voted in favour of the resolution just adopted by the General Assembly. The situation that this August body has been deliberating upon has many… pic.twitter.com/r77zRWLuiB

— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2023

Israel’s Permanent Representative, Gilad Erdan, said that the UN General Assembly finds itself “about to vote on another hypocritical resolution.” He said, “Not only does this resolution fail to condemn Hamas for crimes against humanity, it does not mention Hamas at all. This will only prolong the death and destruction in the region, that is precisely what a ceasefire means.”

Erdan said that Hamas’ only intention is to destroy Israel and the group has announced that it will repeat its atrocities again and again until Israel ceases to exist. He called for the need to hold Hamas accountable and added that a ceasefire means only one thing which is the “survival of Hamas.”He asked, “So why would anyone want to aid Hamas in continuing their rule of terror and actualizing their satanic agenda?” He further said, “We all know that the so call humanitarian ceasefire in this resolution has nothing to do with humanity. Israel is already taking every measure to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

In October, India had abstained in the General Assembly on a resolution that had called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza strip. The Jordanian-drafted resolution had also demanded the immediate, continuous, sufficient and unhindered provision of essential goods and services to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.

The vote in the UNGA Tuesday came days after the 15-nation UN Security Council failed to adopt a resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict that would have demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire after permanent member the United States vetoed the text.

Meanwhile, Israel has said it will not stop its military campaign until it destroys Hamas. Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas’ after its attack on Israel on October 7.

(With inputs from agencies)