From the Liveblog of
Friday, October 27, 2023
US envoy blasts Jordan’s ‘outrageous’ draft UN resolution for failing to mention Hamas
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield pans a Jordanian resolution that will be voted on later today in the General Assembly for failing to mention Hamas.
“It is outrageous that this resolution fails to name the perpetrators of the October 7th terrorist attacks: Hamas,” Thomas Greenfield says in an address during a debate on the non-binding Jordanian resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
She also notes that the resolution doesn’t include the word “hostages.” However, it does “call for the immediate release of all civilians, demanding their safety, well-being and humane treatment in compliance with international law.”
Thomas-Greenfield urges members to back a Canadian amendment to the resolution that condemns Hamas and demands the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.
“It should be easy. This is the bare minimum that we would hope to see in this resolution,” Thomas-Greenfield says.
The US envoy clarifies that Palestinian civilians, UN personnel and humanitarian workers must be protected.
She then highlights the story of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, whose wife, two children and grandchild were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this week.
“We must not become numb to the pain and the suffering of people like Wael Al-Dahdouh… My heart breaks for Wael. My heart breaks for all -– all of the innocent civilians who are caught up in this crisis,” she says.
