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US Fails to Condemn Hamas at UN, Resistance Hails ’Slap’ to Trump

US Fails to Condemn Hamas at UN, Resistance Hails ’Slap’ to Trump
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Local Editor

As the US-sponsored draft resolution seeking to condemn Hamas at the United Nations General Assembly failed to gain a majority vote, the Palestinian resistance group hailed this failure as a “slap” to US President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance,” Hamas’ spokesman Sami Abu Zahri wrote on Twitter.

For his part, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also commended the outcome.

“The presidency thanked all the states that voted against the American draft resolution, affirming that it will not allow for the condemnation of the Palestinian national struggle,” the PA’s office said in a statement.

The 193-member UNGA voted 87-57 in favor of the resolution Thursday while 33 members chose to abstain, leaving Washington with a plurality vote that fell short of the two-thirds requirement to adopt the resolution.

The US had originally called for a simple majority vote, but the world body opted for a two-third majority instead after a narrow 75-72 vote, with 26 abstentions.

The resolution attempted to condemn Hamas for carrying out rocket attacks against the Zionist entity and using "airborne incendiary devices" against “Israeli” occupiers settling in occupied Palestinian lands.

The resolution came weeks after Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups fired over 400 rockets into the occupied territories during a two-day flare-up of violence following a botched “Israeli” attack against a Hamas commander.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said before the vote that the assembly could make history condemning Hamas, which she referred to as "one of the most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world."

“For the sake of peace, and for the sake of this organization, I respectfully urge my colleagues to support this resolution,” she said.

“The General Assembly has passed over 700 resolutions condemning “Israel.” And not one single resolution condemning Hamas. That, more than anything else, is a condemnation of the United Nations itself,” she added.

China and Russia were among those voting the measure down. India abstained despite having recently forged warmer ties with the Tel Aviv regime. The measure was welcomed in Europe and the Americas.

After the US draft’s failure, the UNGA voted 156-6 to adopt an Irish resolution that called for "the achievement, without delay, of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East" on the basis of UN resolutions, especially the December 2016 measure.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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