UN General Assembly Meeting on Gaza next Wednesday

Local Editor

The UN General Assembly will hold an emergency meeting next Wednesday at 3:00 pm to vote on an Arab-backed resolution on Gaza, the body's president Miroslav Lajcak announced Friday.

According to diplomats, the resolution will condemn "Israel", and will be similar to one vetoed by the United States in the Security Council last week, which called for protecting Palestinians from "Israeli" aggression.

It comes as four Palestinians were martyred by "Israeli" fire on the Gaza border on Friday, as weeks of deadly clashes with protesters continued.

Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly have no binding value, unlike those passed by the Security Council.

"We will work next week to get the maximum number of votes," a diplomat from a country that supported the measure said.

Arab countries turned to the General Assembly in December after the US vetoed a Security Council vote on a resolution to condemn its decision to move its embassy to Occupied Al-Quds.

Fourteen members of the Security Council backed the December resolution, though the US as well as the council's four other permanent members retain a right to veto.

The measure then received 128 votes out of 193 in the General Assembly.

A diplomatic source said the emergency meeting had been pushed by the Organization of Islamic States and the Arab League.

Danny Danon, "Israel's" ambassador to the UN, condemned the planned resolution.

Arab states have recently turned to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make proposals on this matter.
But according to a diplomat who asked for anonymity, he said he needed a mandate from the Security Council to look further into the issue.

At least 129 Palestinians have been martyred by "Israeli" fire since protests broke out along the Gaza border on March 30.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team