UN Overwhelmingly Endorses Two-State Solution Declaration That Condemns Hamas 

UNITED NATIONS, Reuters: The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly voted to endorse a declaration calling for “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, ahead of a high-level leaders’ meeting later this month.

The seven-page declaration emerged from an international conference in July hosted by Saudi Arabia and France on the decades-long conflict, which was boycotted by Israel and the United States.

The resolution passed with 142 votes in favor, 10 against, and 12 abstentions. All Gulf Arab states supported the measure, while Israel, the U.S., Argentina, Hungary, and several Pacific island states opposed it.

The text condemns the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw more than 250 hostages taken, while also condemning Israeli strikes on civilians and infrastructure in Gaza, along with the siege and starvation that have created what it called a “devastating humanitarian catastrophe.”

The declaration demands that the war in Gaza “must end now” and calls for the deployment of a temporary U.N.-mandated international stabilization mission.

U.S. officials denounced the move, describing it as “a misguided publicity stunt” that undermines serious diplomacy. “Make no mistake, this resolution is a gift to Hamas,” U.S. diplomat Morgan Ortagus told the Assembly.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the vote as political theater: “The only beneficiary is Hamas … when terrorists are cheering, you are not advancing peace; you are advancing terror.”

The vote comes ahead of a September 22 meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where Britain and other nations are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

According to local health authorities, more than 64,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the war began.