The United Nations General Assembly has rejected a United States-sponsored resolution seeking to condemn Hamas, the Palestinian group administering the besieged Gaza Strip.
The resolution, which was backed strongly by Israel, needed a two-thirds majority to pass on Thursday following an earlier vote in the Assembly.
.... The Gaza Strip, home to two million Palestinians, has been under a crippling Israeli blockade for more than a decade.
In 2006, Hamas beat Fatah in parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and, a year later, fighting between the rival factions broke out.
When Hamas eventually took control, Israel responded by enforcing a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza and banning its residents from working in Israel.
Egypt followed suit, effectively sealing the Strip - often described as the world's largest prison - from the outside world.
Gaza's continued isolation has devastated its economy, impoverished its population and left 60 percent without jobs, adequate electricity and health Services.
