UN delegates call for Gaza ceasefire at General Assembly News
Mojnsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
UN delegates call for Gaza ceasefire at General Assembly

United Nations delegates called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to alleviate Palestinian suffering on Monday evening before the UN General Assembly in New York City.

“We have heard from 189 member states, delegations’ thanks for proactive leadership, embracing diplomacy and not shying away from hard topics and proving why our UN remains critical, especially at a crossroads,” Annalena Baerbock, president of the General Assembly, said to close the six-day conference. “When bombs fall on civilians, when famine is used as a weapon, when sovereignty is trampled by force, it is the credibility of this organization that is at stake.”

Delegates additionally called for a “surge” of humanitarian aid to the region, the immediate release of hostages, and the creation of a two-state solution framework.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council proposed a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, which the US vetoed. The international body has also warned that Israel’s tactics in Gaza could have a devastating impact on disabled individuals and has repeatedly called out human rights violations in the region.

The call for a ceasefire came hours after US President Donald Trump announced a peace plan for Israel and Hamas. “After sensitive consultation with our partners in the region, we are formally releasing our principles of peace, which people have really liked,” Trump said in a press conference on Tuesday while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Specific details of the plan have not been released.

Trump told news outlets that Hamas has “three to four days” to respond to the plan and that there was not much room for negotiation or deviation from the proposed course.

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