KEY POINTS
- India abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly resolution, which called for an immediate “humanitarian truce”
- Spokesperson Eylon Levy said Israel appreciates the support from its international friends and allies
- The government representative asserted that Israel would not stop until Hamas is destroyed
Israel has thanked India for standing with Tel Aviv by abstaining from voting on a UN General Assembly resolution, which called for an immediate “humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for Israel’s government, said Monday that Tel Aviv would have wanted India to vote against the UN resolution.
“We appreciate India’s support. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Netanyahu have spoken. Clearly, in the UN resolution on Friday, we would have wanted India to vote against,” Levy told Indian news agency ANI.
“It was an outrageous resolution. It didn’t mention Hamas once. It didn’t call for an immediate return of the hostages. It’s like having a UN resolution three weeks after 9/11 and not mentioning Al-Qaeda or the twin towers being brought down by plane strikes,” he added. “We appreciate the support of international friends for standing by Israel’s side and want Israel to defeat Hamas and we want more of that diplomatic support, especially from our friends and allies.”
When asked when peace would prevail in the region, Levy asserted that Israel would not stop until Hamas is obliterated.
“This isn’t going to be short. We all want peace in the region. But in order for there to be peace, we cannot have Hamas. In order for there to be peace, we cannot have a jihadi organization that openly says it wants to murder all the Jews,” Levy said.
“In order for there to be peace, Hamas must be consigned to history, and that is what Israel is going to do. We’re going to destroy Hamas and hopefully, then work together with the international community to rebuild the Gaza Strip in a way that it ensures it can never be used as a base for an attack against our people again,” he added.
The non-binding UN resolution, proposed by Jordan, was adopted by a 120-14 vote last Friday, with 45 abstentions.
While defending India’s abstention, Yojna Patel, deputy permanent representative to the UN, said the Oct. 7 Hamas attack was shocking and called for an immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas. Patel also raised concerns about the mounting casualties in Gaza.
