Israel showed appreciation for India's support on Monday after New Delhi abstained from voting on a resolution passed in the UN General Assembly calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war that has claimed over 9,400 lives on both sides of the border.
In an interview with news agency ANI, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said, "We appreciate India's support. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Netanyahu have spoken. Clearly, in the UN resolution, we would have wanted India to vote against (the resolution)."
Levy further said that the resolution, calling for the "protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations", was "outrageous" as it did not mention Hamas and neither did it call for the immediate return of the hostages captured by the militant group.
"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. So, we appreciate the support of international friends who are standing by Israel's side and want Israel to defeat Hamas," he said.
He also asserted that Israel will go forward with its campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the latter's brutal surprise attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 people in the Jewish state. He also called for support from Israeli friends, including those in India, to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages.
"At the moment, we know of at least 239 hostages... 239 innocent people, including 33 children under the age of 10, including 10 children under the age of 5... Their parents were murdered in front of them. They were ripped out of their parents' arms, and now they're being held in a dark tunnel in Gaza," he told ANI.
Why did India abstain?
Besides India, countries that abstained included Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Ukraine and the UK. Sources familiar with the matter said that the UNGA resolution did not include any explicit condemnation of the Hamas attacks of October 7.
India also voiced opposition that the UNGA resolution did not include any explicit condemnation of the Hamas attacks of October 7. "An amendment was moved to include this aspect, prior to the vote on the main Resolution. We voted in favour of the amendment and it obtained 88 votes in favour (but not the requisite two-thirds majority). In the absence of all elements of our approach not being covered in the final text of the Resolution, we abstained in the vote on its adoption," said sources.
"India has always supported a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side-by-side in peace with Israel. For this, we urge the parties to de-escalate, eschew violence and work towards creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations," said India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Yojna Patel
The adoption of the Jordanian resolution is the first formal response of the United Nations to the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine since the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October.
'Days ahead are going to be long and difficult': Israel
Levy's statements come as Israel stepped up its bombardment of the Gaza Strip and deployed troops and armour to push deeper into northern and central Gaza on Monday. The Israeli advances put their forces on both sides of Gaza City and the surrounding areas of northern Gaza, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “second stage” of the war ignited by Hamas' brutal October 7 incursion.
"The days ahead are going to be long, they're going to be difficult. They're going to be hard because this isn't another round of conflict... Hamas declared war on us, Hamas declared war with the worst terrorist attack in world history since 9/11. And so we're going to totally dismantle Hamas in the Gaza Strip," said the Israeli government spokesperson.
He also referred to pro-Palestinian protests across the world as "horrifying", saying that they mean to globalise the intifada against Israel and spread more "genocidal violence" against Jews.
"This is outrageous. This isn't a threat only against Jewish people. It's a threat to the whole world because when Israel suffered the Intifada in 2001, a year later, Al-Qaeda did 9/11, and a few years later there were suicide bombings on buses in London and then in 2008, there was a horrific attack in Mumbai," Levy added.
Hostages in Gaza
The militant Hamas movement ruling Gaza released a video Monday purporting to show three women captured during its October 7 attack inside Israel. One of the women delivers a brief statement, likely under duress, criticising Israel's response to the hostage crisis.
Negotiations for the release of the 239 hostages held by militants of the Palestine-based militant group Hamas reportedly broke down after the group demanded Israel to allow fuel deliveries in besieged Gaza and declined to guarantee the release of foreign captives, NBC News reported.
Around half of the hostages are believed to be citizens from as many as 25 foreign countries, including an estimated 54 Thais, 15 Argentines, 12 Americans, 12 Germans, six French and six Russians. Qatar mediated negotiations that resulted in the release of four hostages - two Americans and two elderly women. Israel says that Hamas released them due to pressure.
However, the pressure is building on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as family members of the hostages call for decisive action for the safe return of their loved ones. The threat of a looming ground attack in the Gaza Strip has further raised concerns about their safety.
Additionally, casualties on both sides are expected to rise sharply if Israeli forces expand their ground operation and end up battling Palestinian militants in dense residential areas. Though Israel ordered Palestinians to flee the north, where Gaza City is located, and move south, hundreds of thousands remain, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones.
(with agency inputs)
