Israel faced growing diplomatic isolation in its war against Hamas as the United Nations demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and U.S. President Joe Biden told the longtime ally its "indiscriminate" bombing of civilians was hurting international support.
After dire warnings from U.N. officials about a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire with three-quarters of member states voting in favour.
"The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians," the leaders of Canada, Australia and New Zealand said separately in a joint statement calling for a ceasefire.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution and urged countries to pressure Israel to comply. A Hamas official in exile, Izzat El-Reshiq, in a statement on Telegram echoed that reaction, saying Israel should "stop its aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing against our people."
The U.S. and Israel, which argue a ceasefire only benefits Hamas, voted against the measure along with eight other countries.
Before the U.N. vote, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said: "A ceasefire means one thing and one thing only - ensuring the survival of Hamas, ensuring the survival of genocidal terrorists committed to the annihilation of Israel and Jews."
Before the resolution, Biden said Israel now has support from "most of the world" including the U.S. and European Union for its fight against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
