The United Nations General Assembly will meet Thursday to discuss the crisis sparked by Hamas militants’ attack on Israel, the body’s president announced in a letter to member states.
The Security Council has yet to reach an agreement on a resolution to the war, but a number of states, notably Jordan on behalf of an Arab group of nations, Russia, Syria, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia, have publicly requested that the meeting be scheduled by General Assembly President Dennis Francis.
The UN Security Council, which is frequently divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rejected a Russian draft resolution last week calling for a “humanitarian pause.”
Only five of the 15 member states had backed the text, which condemned all forms of violence against civilians and terrorist acts but did not identify Hamas, an unacceptable omission to the US, UK, and France.
Washington then vetoed a second resolution proposed by Brazil because it did not reference Israel’s right to self-defense.
Twelve of the fifteen members of the Security Council voted in support of the resolution, which also condemned the “heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas,” while Russia and the United Kingdom abstained.
The United States was the sole country to vote against the resolution, but as one of the body’s five permanent members, its vote was considered a veto.
The Security Council will convene on Tuesday to address the issue ahead of the General Assembly’s meeting on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT).
