RAMALLAH: Namaa Charity of Kuwait’s Social Reform Society opened a new camp to house 200 families affected by rain in north Gaza on Thursday, in cooperation with Palestine’s Wafaa Capacity Building and Microfinance. In a statement to KUNA, Wafaa chairman Muhaisen Atawneh said the camp comes as an immediate response to the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the strip, as thousands of displaced Palestinians are in need of shelter after their tents were damaged by rain. The camp will shelter families that were forcefully displaced by Zionist forces, said Atawneh, adding that the camp is fully equipped with essential items and water supplies. This project is part of Namaa’s “Be Their Support” campaign to provide winter essentials to Gaza residents, Syrian refugees and Yemen, he noted.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture rejected by the United States and Zionist entity. The resolution - adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions - urges “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire,” and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” - wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month.

At that time, Washington used its veto power on the Council - as it has before - to protect its ally, which has been at war with Hamas. It has insisted on the idea of making a ceasefire conditional on the release of all hostages in Gaza, saying otherwise that Hamas has no incentive to free those in captivity. Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be “shameful and wrong” to adopt the text. Ahead of the vote, Zionist UN envoy Danny Danon said: “The resolutions before the assembly today are beyond logic. (...) The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity.”

The General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council, which has been largely paralyzed on hot-button issues such as Gaza and Ukraine due to internal politics, and this time is no different. The resolution, which is non-binding, demands “immediate access” to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory. Dozens of representatives of UN member states addressed the Assembly before the vote to offer their support to the Palestinians. “Gaza doesn’t exist anymore. It is destroyed,” said Slovenia’s UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. “History is the harshest critic of inaction.” — Agencies