UN General Assembly overwhelmingly demands Gaza ceasefire

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday demanding a ceasefire in Gaza — taking the lead from the paralyzed Security Council, and piling pressure on Israel and Washington.

The body, which includes all 193 UN member nations, voted 153 in favor of the resolution — exceeding the 140 or so countries that have routinely backed resolutions condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Ten countries including the United States and Israel voted against, while 23 abstained.

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said the vote marked "a historic day in terms of the powerful message that was sent from the General Assembly."

The vote came after the Security Council — responsible for global peace and security — has repeatedly failed to make such a call.

On Friday, the United States, Israel's most powerful ally and one of only five permanent members of the Security Council, wielded its veto to halt the latest draft text calling for a truce.

The Council took more than a month after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas militants to speak out — and it did so with a weak voice, calling in mid-November after four rejected texts for humanitarian "pauses" in the conflict.

"These tragic attempts are a despicable sign of double standards," Egypt's ambassador to the UN Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud said of Washington's efforts to provide Israel diplomatic cover ahead of the vote in the General Assembly.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a looming "complete breakdown of public order" in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Many countries and human rights organizations condemned last Friday's Security Council failure, and Guterres on Sunday...