The 55th Council session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) concluded with the adoption of a resolution on Friday. This resolution called for Israel to be held accountable for potential war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
During the plenary session, the Israeli ambassador walked out in protest after delivering her speech at the UN. Notably, India was among the 13 countries that abstained from voting on the resolution. The other countries that abstained were Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, and Romania.
The United Nations Human Rights Council tweeted that the resolution, titled “Draft resolution A/HRC/55/L.30 on the Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice,” was adopted. However, it is worth mentioning that the resolution did not mention Hamas or its actions on October 7, despite condemning Israel for the war in Gaza. The resolution also equated abductees with detainees suspected of terrorist activity.
Furthermore, the resolution has been criticized for providing legitimacy to Palestinian “resistance” against the “occupation,” calling for an arms embargo on Israel, and disregarding the supply of weapons to Hamas by Iran and its allies.
The resolution received support from 28 out of the council’s 47 member states, with six opposing it and 13 abstaining. The United States, Germany, Argentina, Paraguay, Bulgaria, and Malawi voted against the resolution.
The Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted that the United Nations Human Rights Council consists of 47 member states, including countries like Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Algeria, South Africa, Somalia, Cuba, as well as the United States, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Romania, Georgia, Bulgaria, and others, based on geographic distribution.
