Did Hungary hand in an amendment to the United Nations resolution on the humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza? No, that's not true: Canada initiated the amendment and Hungary supported it with its vote.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) by @Viktor a TikTokon, the official TikTok account of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on November 7, 2023. It shows Orban answering a question (translated from Hungarian to English by Lead Stories staff) during a session in Parliament:
Hungary initiated an amendment to the resolution during the UN debate. We asked to put this sentence in: the hostages should be released immediately - so we can support it. But they didn't want to do that. How could we support a resolution, while Hungarian hostages are there and they are not willing to include this in the resolution?
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Nov 13 16:42:21 2023 UTC)
Hungary's U.N. envoy did not submit any amendments during the U.N. General Assembly debate on the Gaza humanitarian truce on October 26 and 27, 2023. It was Canada that proposed an amendment condemning the Hamas attack and calling for the immediate release of the hostages. Hungary supported this amendment, but it did not pass.
The resolution that was adopted by the Assembly (Resolution ES-10/21) calls for "The immediate and unconditional release of all civilians who are being illegally held captive, demanding their safety, well-being and humane treatment in compliance with international law." Notably, the term "hostages" is not explicitly mentioned in the resolution. Additionally, the resolution underscores the importance of a peaceful resolution to the Hamas-Israel conflict, as per relevant U.N. resolutions and the two-state solution. It successfully resolved the U.N.'s deadlock, garnering 121 votes in favor, with 14 against and 45 abstentions.
