At UN Security Council session, US leads call for condemnation of Hamas

By AFP 8 October 2023, 11:03 pm Edit

Illustrative: A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on New York City on September 21, 2023. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP)

The United States leads calls for condemnation of a Hamas assault on Israel as the United Nations Security Council opens an emergency session on the crisis.

“I expect to hear from the other Council members very strong condemnation of these heinous acts of terrorism committed against the Israeli people and their government,” senior US diplomat Robert Wood tells reporters as he enters the closed-door session.

A closed-door session will not bring a formal resolution, but diplomats say that talks on even reaching a non-binding statement were difficult.

China says it would support a statement.

“We condemn all attacks against civilians,” Ambassador Zhang Jun says, while adding that China also wanted a return to the Middle East peace process.