Hamas welcomes Human Rights Council resolution demanding halt of arms sales to Israel

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Palestinian Hamas group on Friday welcomed the UN Human Rights Council passing a resolution demanding a halt in arms sales to Israel and calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes in Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas called the resolution “an important step on the path of pressuring the (Israeli) occupation to stop its brutal and destructive war against civilians in the Gaza Strip."

The group also called on "the international community and the United Nations to take practical measures to oblige countries and companies that supply weapons to the (Israeli) terrorist occupation entity to implement this resolution immediately."

The statement demanded that countries, particularly the US, "stop providing military and political support to the (Israeli) fascist occupation and its criminal army."

Earlier Friday the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip.

It also called on countries to "cease the sale, transfer, and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel” in order “to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights."

The 47-member Human Rights Council voted 28-6 in favor of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.

Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay, and the US voted against the motion brought by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, but excluding Albania.

Flouting an International Court of Justice provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 76,000 injured over the last six months, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.