The US envoy to the UN has accused Arab states of empowering Hamas and turning a blind eye to evil by tabling a draft resolution at the general assembly calling for restraint from Israel but failing to name Hamas as the perpetrators of the massacres of 7 October.
Linda Thomas Greenfield, who faced successive attacks by member states for failing to condemn Israel’s use of violence in Gaza, insisted the US mourned every loss of civilian life but also hit back by claiming the draft motion tabled by Jordan gave cover to Hamas.
Speaking on the second day of an emergency debate at the UN general assembly, she said the Hamas goals were “single-minded and they’re sickening. They are determined to destroy Israel and kill Jews. And let’s be clear, Hamas has never cared about the genuine needs or concerns or safety of the people it claims to represent. And Hamas has no respect for the rule of law or human life. To them Palestinian civilians are expendable.”
She said: “We must not go back to the status quo where Hamas terrorises Israel and uses Palestinian civilians as human shields. And we must not go back to the status quo where extremist settlers can attack and terrorise Palestinians in the West Bank. The status quo is untenable, and it is unacceptable. This means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next.”
Jordan sought to maximise public support for the Palestinian cause before a late vote on Friday by asking other countries in the general assembly to back a motion calling for a durable and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza rather than a fully fledged ceasefire.
Jordan also sought to broaden support within the assembly by demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all illegally held hostages.
By involving the general assembly – as opposed to the divided 15-strong security council – Jordan and other Arab states were trying to engineer a clear public condemnation of Israel, painting its response to the Hamas attack as being in breach of international humanitarian law.
Jordan’s draft resolution also calls for immediate access for humanitarian workers, and demands that Israel rescind its order that citizens in Gaza to move south for their own protection. It states: “The delivery of food, water medicine and fuel needs to be sustained and at scale,” stressing “the imperative that under international humanitarian law citizens cannot be deprived of objects that are essential to survival.” It describes Israel as the occupying power.
In the past fortnight, the UN security council has four times failed to adopt a collective view without either Russia or the US wielding its veto, leaving the UN in effect muted.
Unlike the security council, however, votes at the general assembly are not subject to a veto, although they need a two-thirds majority of those present and voting in order to pass.
Egypt’s UN envoy, Osama Abdelkhalek, said: “The proponents of killing women and children, proponents of the siege, the forcible displacements and other proponents of the war – they claim that this war aims to counter terrorism and uproot terrorism.
“The reality is that failing to take effective and immediate measures to stop this war would inevitably fuel terrorism. It would push generations of young people towards extremist ideologies. The reality is also [that] not stopping this war now, before it’s too late, would push the whole region towards a devastating regional war that will affect the interests of those who are stalling in calling for its end.”
