UN human rights body calls for halt to weapons shipments to Israel as concerns about Gaza war mount
Israel in a resolution passed Friday that aims to help prevent rights violations against Palestinians amid Israel's blistering military campaign in Gaza.
The 47-member-country Human Rights Council voted 28-6 in favor of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.
The sweeping measure takes aim at an array of Israeli actions such as impeding access to water and limiting shipments of humanitarian aid into Palestinian areas. It also calls on U.N.-backed independent investigators to report on shipments of weapons, munitions and «dual use» items — that have both civilian and military applications — that could be used by Israel against Palestinians.
While non-binding, the resolution is bound to raise international pressure on Israel as a sign of widespread concern about its military campaign in Gaza, begun in response to the attacks in Israel by armed militants on Oct. 7, that has led to the killings of nearly 33,000 Palestinians.
Western countries were divided. The U.S. and Germany opposed the resolution, France and Japan abstained, while Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg voted in favor.
Sustained applause interrupted the council president as he read the results. Israel's ambassador said she would not attend the rest of the day's session and called the resolution a «stain on the Human Rights Council and the United Nations as a whole.»
«This council has long abandoned the Israeli people and long defended Hamas,» Meirav Eilon Shahar said of the militant group behind the attacks. «It has become a shield for terrorists. It has
