The United States is calling on European nations to support a U.N. resolution, expected to be voted on in the General Assembly on Friday or Monday, condemning Hamas for launching more than 400 rockets this month from Gaza into Israel and urging the terrorist group to stop using violence.
Were it adopted, it would mark the first time that the General Assembly condemns Hamas.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told reporters that U.S. diplomats have been in talks with their European Union counterparts on the text. Their backing would increase chances of passage in the 193-country body.
“The U.S. is negotiating the language with the E.U.,” said Danon. “For us, it’s very symbolic to have this resolution presented with the support of the E.U.”
However, the Europeans said there were disagreements on the proposed U.S. draft, such as references to U.N. resolutions and to the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.
The draft “condemns Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence” and “demands that Hamas and other militant actors cease all provocative actions and violent activity,” according to AFP.
The push for the resolution comes as the U.N. plans to mark its annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians, which is held every year on the anniversary of the adoption of the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan that sought to establish separate Arab and Jewish states in the former British Mandate for Palestine.
