India votes in favour of UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine

India voted in favour of the United Nations resolution condemning settlement activities in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan” that was approved on Thursday. India was among 145 nations that voted in favour of the resolution as against seven countries that voted against and 18 that abstained from voting. 

The UN draft resolution – “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan” – was passed with overwhelming majority. The seven countries that voted against the resolution included Canada, Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, United States. 

This comes in the backdrop of India abstaining from voting in the previous UN General Assembly draft resolution submitted by Jordan that called for an immediate truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The resolution had made no mention of the Hamas terrorist group that launched an attack on Israel on October 7, triggering the subsequent war. India was one of 45 countries to abstain from voting, while 14 voted against it and was overwhelmingly adopted with 120 nations voting in favour. 

ISRAEL-PALESTINE WAR

Palestinian officials said on Friday that 11,078 Gazans have succumbed to death during air and artillery strikes since October 7. It said that 40 per cent of them are children. The Israeli military said that it is ready to evacuate babies from Gaza’s largest hospital on Sunday after it ran out of fuel. The Israeli forces have been clashing with Hamas gunmen in and around Gaza city where the largest hospital, Al Shifa, is located. The hospital had to suspend operations after it ran out of fuel, leading to the death of two babies in the incubator.

Israel's chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli forces would help evacuate babies from the hospital. Israel also asked patients, doctors as well as evacuees who have taken shelter in hospitals to vacate soon so that the forces can tackle Hamas gunmen. 

The Rafah crossing into Egypt would also reopen on Sunday for foreign passport holders. 

Israel has identified multiple places where it would stop firing for several hours so that Gazans can move south. The last three days have seen the evacuation of at least 150,000 people.

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