The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has labelled Jamaica’s absence from a United Nations General Assembly vote for a humanitarian truce in war-torn Gaza as “a new low in Jamaican foreign policy history.”

The resolution introduced by Jordan calls for the protection of civilians and the upholding of legal and humanitarian obligations in Gaza amid hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers which has claimed thousands of lives.

It was adopted with 120 countries in favour, 14 against, and 45 abstaining. Jamaica was among the countries that abstained, with Foreign Affairs Minister stating that consultations did not conclude in time for the vote.

“Despite Jamaica’s role as the chair of the Caricom Foreign Ministers caucus, it failed to vote in support of the resolution, in contrast to Caricom’s agreed position. This absence of Jamaica’s representative from this crucial vote is a new low in Jamaican foreign policy history,” the PNP stated in a release.

It said the Government’s excuse for Jamaica’s abstention in the vote is unsatisfactory.

“This explanation lacks merit, as consultations should have been timed to enable Jamaica to vote in favour of the resolution,” the PNP said, noting that the vote marked the UN General Assembly’s first significant response to the humanitarian tragedy “resulting from Israel’s collective punishment of the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza.

“Jamaica’s non-participation in support of such a significant resolution is inexcusable,” the release stated.

According to the PNP, the failure to vote gives the impression that the Government of Jamaica is not interested in standing in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian civilians.

“We hope that this impression will be promptly and definitively dispelled by the Government. There should be no recurrence of this major failure in our foreign policy conduct,” the PNP said.