Israel-Hamas War: India's vote reflects New Delhi's principled stance in relation to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas after the latter attacked Israel on October 7 and killed about 1200 people

India on Saturday (Nov 11) voted in the favour of a United Nations resolution that called out Israel's settlement activities in "the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan". The resolution was passed two days after its draft resolution was approved on Thursday, November 9.

The UN draft resolution titled "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan" was passed by overwhelming majority.

Only seven countries, including the United States and Canada, voted against the resolution. Other five countries who voted against the resolution were Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru.

A total of 18 countries abstained from voting, including Cote D'Ivore, Czechia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Malawi, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Togo, Uruguay, and Vanuatu.

What Does It Mean?

India's vote reflects New Delhi's principled stance in relation to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas after the latter attacked Israel on October 7 and killed about 1200 people.

New Delhi advocates "the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel". While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slammed Hamas for its brutal acts of terror committed in Israel on Oct 7, the Ministry of External Affairs has made it clear that while India stands against terrorist strikes, its stand on Israel-Palestine remained unchanged.

Last month, India abstained in the UN General Assembly from voting on a draft resolution submitted by Jordan, that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The resolution did not make any mention of Hamas. Since then, the western discourse over Israel-Hamas war has evolved from humanitarian ceasefire to humanitarian pauses, the latter a wartime practice to stop fighting during designated hours to ensure the supplies of essentials to the civilians.

The resolution titled "Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations" was overwhelmingly adopted with 120 nations voting in its favour, 14 against it and 45 abstaining.