Egypt hails UN General Assembly resolution on Israeli offensive in Gaza

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Saturday welcomed the adoption of a resolution in the previous day by the United Nations General Assembly deploring the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency reported.

The adoption of the resolution, which calls for the Israeli troops' immediate withdrawal from Gaza, reflects a world desire to expose Israeli practices against the Palestinian people, Abul Gheit was quoted as saying in a statement.

While expressing satisfaction with the European Union's support for the resolution, Abu Gheit also expressed his deep regret for the United States' opposition to the resolution even though it included a direct appeal to the Palestinian side to halt firing missiles at Israel, MENA said.

Meanwhile, Abul Gheit reiterated Egypt's denunciation of a recent Israeli offensive in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun town that killed some 19 Palestinian civilians.

He said that he was astonished to find that some powers still allow Israel to act as it pleased and go on with its policy of violating international law and human rights after the deadly attack on Palestinians.

The Arabs resorted to the UN General Assembly and asked for protection of the Palestinian people after the UN Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution due to a U.S. veto, Abul Gheit said.

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly adopted the resolution by a vote of 156 to 7 with six abstentions.

The resolution asked the UN secretary-general to set up a UN probe into the Beit Hanoun incident in which 19 Palestinians were killed, including many children and women, on Nov. 8.

It called on the international community, as well as the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East peace process -- the European Union, Russia, the United States and United Nations - to help stabilize the situation and restart the peace process.

The 25-member European Union joined the Arab states in voting positively after a last-minute effort to soften the tone of the text, while the United States, Israel and Australia were among those who voted against it.

Source: Xinhua