Palestinians Hail Failure of UN Resolution to Condemn Hamas

“The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri tweeted, AFP reported.

The US draft, championed by Ambassador Nikki Haley, won 87 votes in the General Assembly Thursday compared to 58 against but fell short of a required two-thirds majority.

Thirty-two countries abstained. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also welcomed the vote’s failure.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said in a statement Friday that the draft’s defeat was a message that “all the conspiracies against the Palestinian leadership and legitimacy will not pass.”

“The US administration’s failure to pass the draft resolution accusing the Palestinian side (of inciting violence) and exonerating the Israeli side from crimes committed against the Palestinian people ... proves again the force of the Palestinian right and the Palestinian leadership’s success at the global level,” PA spokesman Youssef al-Mahmoud said.

It was the first draft resolution condemning Hamas to be presented to the 193-nation assembly, which has been meeting since 1946.

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