The UN resolution increases international pressure on Israel but does not prevent the escalation of fighting in Gaza

The times when Israel saw Western countries unconditionally supporting its offensive in Gaza are now a thing of the past.. This Tuesday the United Nations Assembly said loud and clear that a humanitarian ceasefire had to be promoted as soon as possible. And this Wednesday the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, insisted on it: “I urge the parties to apply the resolution”. Diplomatic pressure on Israel increases by the moment and not even its strongest allies deny the humanitarian crisis.. Despite this, the war continues, and the hand-to-hand combat in the Strip has not only not stopped, but has intensified.

During the day on Tuesday, Israel received several diplomatic blows. On the one hand, the UN resolution, in which 153 countries voted in favor of a ceasefire, including 17 EU States. And on the other hand, the United States' criticism of its Government. US President Joe Biden acknowledged for the first time that the Jewish state was “beginning to lose support”. Furthermore, he criticized that Benjamin Netanyahu's Executive was the “most conservative in the history of Israel” and regretted that “he did not want a two-state solution.”. To top it all off, Biden stated that the Israeli leader should “change” his government to find a solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

Although the resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not binding, the result does confirm Biden's perception, since it has had a much larger result than the vote on November 28 in which a cessation was also requested. of hostilities. Among the countries that voted against, in addition to Israel and the United States, were two European countries, Austria and the Czech Republic; small Pacific countries, Guatemala and Paraguay. Among the abstentionists, Argentina was found for the first time, which joined the position of Italy, Germany and Ukraine, among others.

This Wednesday, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation insisted that the “overwhelming majority” of countries calling for a ceasefire reflects “Israel's evident isolation.”. The vote in the Assembly had been requested after the United States vetoed a resolution of almost similar content in the Security Council last Friday.. A body where the decision would have been binding if all its members had voted in favor.

Fighting intensifies

Despite the pressure, the Israeli Government has assured that they will not stop their efforts to put an end to Hamas and that a ceasefire now would be a mistake. “We will continue until the end. There is no doubt at all. I say this in the face of international pressure. “Nothing will stop us, we will go to the end, to victory, to the destruction of Hamas,” Netanyahu assured his troops this Wednesday.. “It would be a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas, and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also added.

In this context, the war continues. And the Israeli Army claims to have attacked some 250 Islamist organization targets in the last few hours. The fighting is centered in the enclave's second largest city, Khan Yunis, in the south, and in Beit Lahia, Jabalia and Shujaiya, in the north, where the capital of the Palestinian enclave is located. Precisely in Shujaiya, where fighting is taking place street by street, nine Israeli soldiers members of the elite Golani brigade have died in clashes with Hamas. These deceased are joined by another soldier in a town north of Gaza, making this day one of the deadliest for Israeli troops.. A total of 115 soldiers have died since the offensive began.

Among the nine killed in Shujaiya was Colonel Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, commander of the Golani Brigade and the highest ranking officer to have died in Gaza so far. “Golani troops confronted terrorists who threw explosives at the soldiers and shot at them from inside a residential building that also contained underground terrorist infrastructure.. “Commanders on the ground showed bravery and composure, leading from the front and rushing to help wounded soldiers,” a military statement said.

Likewise, the Ezzeldin al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, acknowledged to Al Jazeera this Wednesday that they had carried out a series of attacks against the command rooms of the Israel Defense Forces. “We attacked the enemy's command rooms in the southern axis of Gaza City with large-caliber mortar shells,” they said without adding more details.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 240, Israeli bombings in response have left more than 18,600 Palestinians dead (at least 70% of them civilians) and more than 50,500 injured.