MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UN General Assembly evaluating ceasefire in Middle East war

“Why is there so much pain over the deaths of Israelis and so little pain for us Palestinians?” Riyad Mansour wondered

A United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting where a possible resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Middle East was adjourned Thursday, Agencia Brasil reported. The body is to resume Friday the discussion of the conflict between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip region.

After several deadlocks in the UN Security Council, countries that support an end to the war in the Middle East called for an emergency meeting of the General Assembly to try to reach a ceasefire agreement.

While in the Security Council countries like the United States or Russia have the power to veto resolutions, in the General Assembly a majority vote is enough for a text to be approved.

Palestine's permanent observer at the United Nations Riyad Mansour called for an immediate ceasefire. He spoke of the more than 7,000 Palestinians killed since October 7 and questioned the difference in treatment given to Israeli and Palestinian victims.

“Why is there so much pain over the deaths of Israelis and so little pain for us Palestinians? What is the problem? Do we have the wrong faith? The wrong skin color? The wrong nationality? The wrong origin? How can the representatives of the countries explain how horrible the death of a thousand Israelis is and not feel the same way about the death of a thousand Palestinians who are dying now, every day?”

Meanwhile, Israel's representative Gilad Erlan dubbed a resolution for a ceasefire absurd and compared Hamas, responsible for the Oct. 7 attack that resulted in the death of 1,400 Israelis, to cancer.

“Israel's mission is to eradicate this evil from the earth. Eradicate it. Hamas can no longer exist. Our goal is the complete eradication of Hamas and its capabilities. And we will use all the time we have to achieve this. There is only one solution to cure cancer, and that is to extirpate every cancerous cell,” he stressed.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abollahian also spoke on Thursday: “I will be frank with the US government, who are managing this genocide in Palestine. We do not welcome the expansion of the war in the region. But I warn you that if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared the war. This is our home and the Middle East is our region.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Iran earlier this week not to enter the conflict.

Even if the resolution is approved, Israel is not compelled to follow the UN's recommendation. But the vote could show Israel's isolation.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)