India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and reiterated the demand for immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban.
The 193-member General Assembly voted Wednesday at the 10th emergency special session to adopt the draft resolution 'Demand for ceasefire in Gaza', introduced by Indonesia.
India was among the 158 nations that voted in favour of the resolution while nine member states, including Israel and the US, voted against it.
Among the 13 nations that abstained were Albania and Ukraine.
The resolution demanded an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.'
It demanded that the parties fully, unconditionally and without delay implement all the provisions of the Security Council resolution of June 2024 regarding an "immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, the return of the remains of hostages who have been killed, the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighbourhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.'
The resolution demanded immediate access by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip to basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to its survival, while "rejecting any effort to starve Palestinians'.
It further demanded the facilitation of full, rapid, safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance, at scale and under the coordination of the United Nations, to and throughout the Gaza Strip and its delivery to all Palestinian civilians who need it, including to civilians in besieged north Gaza, who are in urgent need of immediate humanitarian relief. -- PTI