‘Call Sinwar for ceasefire’: Israeli envoy shows Hamas chief's number at UN

Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan held a sign showing the phone number of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s Hamas office, at a UN General Assembly meeting on Tuesday.

“You want a real ceasefire?” Erdan declared, admonishing UNGA members to ask him directly as he held up a sign depicting Sinwar’s office phone number, since the terrorist mastermind and Hamas bear the real responsibility for the current conflict, not Israel.

בדיון הדחוף בעצרת הכללית הבהרתי לכל השגרירים לפני ההצבעה: אם אתם רוצים הפסקת אש אמיתית, תתקשרו למשרדי חמאס בעזה ותבקשו את יחיא סינוואר. תגידו לו שכאשר חמאס יניחו את נשקם, יסגירו את עצמם ויחזירו את כל החטופים, אז תהיה הפסקת אש אמיתית שתימשך לתמיד.צפו ורטווטו>> pic.twitter.com/1KDWtEm11R

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) December 12, 2023

“Call… and ask for Yahya Sinwar. Tell Hamas to put down their arms, turn themselves in, and return our hostages. This will bring a complete ceasefire that will last forever,” Erdan said.

UN resolution calls for Gaza ceasefire 

The United Nations General Assembly called for a Gaza ceasefire in a 153-10 vote, with 23 countries abstaining hours after US President Joe Biden warned Israel it was losing support for its campaign to oust Hamas.

The resolution, the second of its kind since the war began on October 7, was greeted with applause.

The United States and Israel opposed the measure, as did Austria, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.

The UN Security Council had already met over the weekend at the request of the organization’s secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, to discuss the war in the Gaza Strip. The vote on the resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire fell during the same debate after the US vetoed the proposal. Some 97 UN member-states had voted in favor of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.