Khalil al-Hayya
Khalil al-HayyaReuters

Hamas boasted on Saturday following the UN General Assembly’s failure last Thursday to approve a US resolution condemning the terrorist group and its rocket attacks on Israel.

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said that the result of the vote was a "victory for the Palestinian resistance in spite of American bullying,” according to Fox News.

He also thanked countries that voted against the resolution for preventing “the US administration and Israel from criminalizing Palestinian resistance.”

Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shehab also reacted to the vote, saying according to Fox News that the failure of the US resolution was a “severe blow” to the US and Israel.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri made similar comments immediately following Thursday’s vote, saying on Twitter, "The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance.”

Even though the resolution received a majority of 87 votes in favor during Thursday’s vote, it was not approved as, moments before the vote, the UN approved a measure by Kuwait which stipulated that a two-thirds majority would be required for the adoption of the US resolution condemning Hamas.

Despite the fact that the resolution was not approved, Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, described the vote as one that brought Hamas to justice.

“We achieved a plurality. That plurality would have been a majority if the vote had not been hijacked by a political move of procedure. But in one strong, courageous voice, we have brought Hamas to justice,” he said.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu similarly hailed the majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning Hamas.

"The draft condemnation of Hamas in the UN General Assembly received a sweeping majority by countries that stood against Hamas. This is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand. I thank the American administration and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the initiative," he said.