UN rejects Canadian push to call out “deliberate cruelty” of Hamas attacks
WASHINGTON — A Canadian-led effort to formally condemn Hamas for the “deliberate cruelty” of its deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel went down to defeat Friday as the United Nations instead endorsed a call for a humanitarian pause in hostilities.
On the second day of an emergency session of the UN General Assembly, delegates debated the language of a draft resolution calling for a “truce” to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip and trapped civilians to escape.
But the resolution, introduced by the UN’s 22-nation Arab coalition, made no mention of Hamas, the attacks or the tactics employed by a group that has long been considered a terrorist organization by Canada and the U.S., among others.
Bob Rae, Canada’s permanent UN envoy, sought to rectify that with an amendment that “unequivocally rejects and condemns” the attacks while demanding the “immediate and unconditional” safe release of all hostages.