United Nations, December 5 (RHC)-- The president of the United Nations General Assembly has called for an end to Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, expressing dismay at the failure of the Security Council to approve a ceasefire resolution in this regard.
Philemon Yang made the remarks on Wednesday during the 10th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on illegal Israeli actions in the occupied Palestine. “The horror in Gaza must end,” he said, noting that the international community’s demands are clear concerning Israel's ongoing aggression against Gaza.
Yang further referred to the draft resolution by the UNSC last month, which received 14 votes in favor, only to be blocked by the United States. “Once again, the Security Council is paralyzed, unable to fulfill its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security,” he said.
Thus, he added, the General Assembly should take the lead on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which cannot be settled through “endless war and occupation."
The resolution, put to the Security Council on November 20, demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza, along with “the immediate and unconditional release" of all captives held in the besieged Palestinian territory.
However, the document was not adopted because the US vetoed it - the fourth time it used its veto power during the war on Gaza to shield its ally Israel.
Also speaking at the same meeting, Palestine's ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, called for immediate global action to end Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. "As I stand here to address this august assembly, ethnic cleansing is being carried out in broad daylight in Beit Lahia and all of northern Gaza," he said.
The Palestinian envoy further emphasized that the Tel Aviv regime’s obvious plan was to destroy and displace the people to annex the Palestinian land. "Every hour, every day, more Palestinian children, women and men fall victim to this depraved Israeli onslaught. Lives lost, families devastated, and an entire people brutalized, terrorized and traumatized, with no end in sight," he pointed out.
Moreover, Mansour called for an end to Israel's "illegal occupation" of Palestine, demanding the realization of the so-called two-state solution on the pre-1967 lines.
On Tuesday, the General Assembly emphasized that the so-called two-state solution remains the “only path to lasting peace” in West Asia, adopting three resolutions to advance this goal.
It approved a resolution titled “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine," with 157 votes in favor, 8 against and 7 abstentions.
The document called for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza, and eastern al-Quds, and announced a conference in June 2025 designed to “urgently chart an irreversible pathway towards” a Palestinian state.
Additionally, the General Assembly voted to fund the UN Division for Palestinian Rights, which advocates for Palestinian sovereignty, by a vote of 101 in favor, 27 against, and 42 abstentions.
It further adopted by 97 votes in favor to 8 against, with 64 abstentions, a separate resolution demanding Israel’s withdrawal from Syria’s illegally occupied Golan Heights.
