Speaking before the vote, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that voting against the resolution "means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing". Israel denounced the vote as "infamy".

The resolution is non-binding, but serves as a barometer of global opinion as fighting between Israel and Hamas nears the end of its third week, following an assault by Hamas on southern Israel that killed more than 1,400 people.

The body convened as Israel intensified its bombardment on Gaza, where phone and internet service have been cut off and Israel has engaged in limited ground skirmishes before an expected invasion.

The General Assembly voted after the UN Security Council had failed to take action over two weeks, with the US and Russia using their veto powers to block proposals supported by the other.

The adopted resolution calls for an "immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities" and "firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population"