US among 14 countries to vote against UN resolution on Israel-Hamas ‘truce’

The United States was among a group of 14 countries in the United Nations General Assembly to vote against the resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The U.S. and thirteen other countries voted against the truce, while 45 countries voted to abstain Friday. One hundred and twenty countries voted in favor of the humanitarian truce.

The resolution calls for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza.

According to the U.N. it also demands a “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of life-saving supplies to the people stuck inside Gaza.

The resolution also condemns all violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

Notably, the resolution does not specifically condemn the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas, or mention Hamas at all. There were several amendments that asked for Israel and Hamas to be named in the resolution that failed to get enough support.

It calls for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all civilians being held captive. Hamas took more than 200 people hostage during its Oct. 7 attack.

The resolution is the first formal U.N. response to the Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s counteroffensive . Several other measures by the U.N. Security Council have failed to pass or have been vetoed by either the U.S., Russia or China.

The U.S. was joined by Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga in voting against the measure.