The United Nations on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning the use of civilians as human shields by terrorist groups, a strategy frequently used by organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS), which was first approved in 2006 and is reviewed every two years. This year marked the seventh review of the document that prioritizes the counter-terrorism strategy of member states.
The international body also condemned anti-Semitic terrorism for the first time, as well as the use of the internet as a tool for the recruitment of terrorists.
The adoption of the counter-terrorism stances came after a diplomatic push by the Israeli delegation, led by ambassador Gilad Erdan, who posted to Twitter that he welcomed the decision and was "glad that the diplomatic effort we led bore fruit" more than a month after the fighting between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip.
"Terrorists must not be allowed to use schools, homes and hospitals to shield their murderous activities," Erdan said at the UN following the adoption of the resolution.
"Terrorism is terrorism is terrorism and should never be explained away, justified or excused. No matter what."
Voting on the GCTS resolution was part of Counter-Terrorism Week at the UN which was originally scheduled to take place last summer but was postponed until June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reprinted courtesy of i24NEWS