News - Middle East: Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has “welcomed” a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, urging the international community to oblige Israel to stop the genocidal war on the strip.

In a statement on Thursday, Hamas said it “welcomes the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution, supported by 158 countries, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, enabling civilians in the (Gaza) Strip to have immediate access to essential services and humanitarian aid.”

The General Assembly adopted the resolution that calls for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” on Wednesday. A total of 158 countries voted in favor of the resolution. Nine struck it down, including the Israeli regime and the United States, Tel Aviv’s biggest ally, while 13 countries abstained.

“Throughout this aggression, we have consistently expressed our willingness to respond to any decisions or initiatives leading to a ceasefire,” Hamas stressed, blaming the Israeli regime and the United States for the persistent war.

“The war criminal Netanyahu and his fascist ministers ignored all efforts and decisions, and continued the brutal genocidal war against innocent civilians, amid the full support from the US administration.”            

The movement also urged the international community to oblige the Israeli regime to implement the UN resolution, “which expresses the global conscience demanding an end to the brutal genocide in the Gaza Strip”, and to take steps to bring the Israeli leaders to the International Criminal Court and implement the arrest orders issued against Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant.

Last month, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.”

The arrest warrants mean that those accused could face arrest should they travel to one of the ICC’s 124 member states.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least 44,835 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 106,356 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

Source: Press TV