US, Israel more isolated as UNGA votes on Gaza ceasefire

Australia, Canada, Japan and several other US allies, changed their stance to vote for the latest United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while the United States and Israel found themselves increasingly isolated, The Washington Post reported.

According to the newspaper, the pivotal supporters of the US and Israel shifted their opinion as "the toll on Palestinian civilians intensified," with public protests growing.

"[The vote result] showed almost total isolation of the United States <…> and that there is not an agreement on the American Israeli narrative," the newspaper quoted Rashid Khalidi, a professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, as saying. "While Western governments generally are aligned with Israel, public opinion in those countries is shifting," he added.

On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed an Egypt and Mauritania-initiated resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. As many as 153 member nations, including Russia, favored the resolution, while 10 countries, including Israel and the United States, voted against it, with 23 other nations, including the United Kingdom, abstaining from the vote. The UNGA voted down a US-initiated amendment that would condemn Hamas’ actions. It also turned down Austria’s amendment specifying that the hostages are being held by Hamas and other groups.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and taking hostages. Israel declared a total siege of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.