
A picture taken from Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip. AFP
Late last month, Washington used its veto power on the UNSC -- as it has before -- to protect its ally Israel, which has been at war in the Gaza Strip.
It blocked the Security Council's attempt to call for a ceasefire, saying a link between a ceasefire and a release of all captives had to be maintained.
This time in the General Assembly, the draft resolution, which would be non-binding if approved, calls for both "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."
The resolution also demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory.
The General Assembly has regularly offered its support to the Palestinians and 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.
During the debate before the vote, which is due to take place at about 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), those who spoke largely backed the draft.
"Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar told the Assembly. "History is the harshest critic of inaction."
That criticism was echoed by Algeria's deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui, who said: "The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow."
'Bleeding heart of Palestine'
Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority of them women and children.
"Gaza today is the bleeding heart of Palestine," Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week during the first day of debate in the Assembly's special session on the issue.
"The images of our children burning in tents, with no food in their bellies and no hopes and no horizon for the future, and after having endured pain and loss for more than a year, should haunt the conscience of the world and prompt action to end this nightmare," he said, calling for an end to the "impunity.'
An earlier draft seen by AFP aimed to establish an international mechanism to help investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes committed in the Palestinian territories since 2014, but that language was subsequently removed.
A second draft resolution up for a vote on Wednesday will call on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and allow it to continue its operations, after Israel voted to ban it.
The ban, which is due to take effect on January 28, sparked global condemnation, including from key ally the United States.
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