Sponsored resolution to condemn Hamas militants fails at United Nations

For the first time, a majority of United Nations member countries voted to condemn Hamas, but under General Assembly procedures, the measure failed to be officially approved.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley, whose defense of Israel has been a signature calling during her almost two-year run, had lobbied hard for European countries and others to join with Washington in condemning Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and for "inciting violence", putting civilians at risk.

A vote on whether to necessitate a two-thirds majority was to precede the vote on the actual resolution itself.

Sami Abu Zahri, a spokesman for Hamas, the militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, wrote on Twitter after the vote: "The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the USA administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance".

Before Thursday's vote, the 193-member world body had narrowly voted to require a two-thirds majority which Arab nations pressed for rather than a simple majority which the United States urged.

Hamas said the failure to pass the resolution was "a serious failure for the "bullying policy" of the Trump administration adopted in the region".

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused the Arab countries behind adopting the two-thirds majority procedural rule of "double standards" and condemned the UN's failure to respond to terrorist acts against Israel.

The resolution said it would be supporting "just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians", CBS News' Pamela Falk reports.

"The broad support from the world demonstrates the changes we have made in the UN", Danon said.

But before the vote on the US draft resolution, Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Llorenty Soliz withdrew the amendment.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.

The results of a vote are seen on display boards at the General Assembly hall, on December 21, 2017, at UN Headquarters in NY.

Furthermore, she noted, "before the General Assembly can credibly advocate compromise and reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel, it must be on record, unambiguously and unconditionally, condemning Hamas terrorism".

A number of States explained their reasons for voting against the resolution. "Over 700 resolutions condemning Israel, and not one single resolution condemning Hamas".

The European Union, like the United States, considers Hamas a terror group.

The US defeat at the General Assembly came as the Trump administration prepares to unveil new peace proposals that the Palestinians have already rejected.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately thanked Israel's friends in the United Nations General Assembly in a statement Thursday night. And he said it would also turn attention away from Israel's occupation, settlement activities and "blockade" - whether in Gaza, the West Bank or east Jerusalem which the Palestinians want as their future capital.

If adopted, it would mark the first time the assembly has taken aim at Hamas, the Islamist militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

The amendment in June was to a resolution that condemned Israel for the Gaza violence and called for protection for the Palestinian civilian population.