The UN Security Council approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday afternoon. The US decided to abstain from the vote and did not veto the resolution like past, similar resolutions.
The resolution demanded an immediate ceasefire for Ramadan that will lead to a “lasting sustainable” ceasefire. The resolution also demands the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli hostages and emphasizes that humanitarian access must be allowed to hostages to meet their medical and other needs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not allow the delegation that was planned to go to Washington this week to meet with senior US officials, to go forward, following the failure to veto the resolution.
“The US has backed down from its consistent stance in the security council since the beginning of the war,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in response to the vote.
The US did not veto a version of the resolution that calls for a ceasefire that is not dependent on the release of hostages, which is a clear backing down from its stance, according to the PMO.
“This backing down hurts the war effort and the effort to release the hostages because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without releasing our hostages,” added the PMO.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby addressed reporters moments after the UN National Security vote on Monday morning, saying the US’s abstention of the vote does not represent a shift in US policy.
“We have been clear, and we’ve been consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal,” Kirby said.
“That’s how the hostage deal is structured. We wanted to get to a place where we could support that resolution, but because the final text does not have key language that we think is essential like a condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it.”
Kirby said senior US officials would still meet for separate talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on hostages, humanitarian aid and protecting civilians in Rafah. He stressed that US policy had not changed, despite the decision to abstain from the UN vote.
“We were looking forward to having a discussion (about) alternatives and options to a major ground offensive because we don’t believe that a ground offensive in Rafah is the right course of action,” Kirby told reporters, when asked about reports that the other Israeli visit had been canceled.
If in fact, there’s not going to be a delegation visit this week, then we will obviously keep having conversations with our Israeli counterparts and doing the best we can to continue to share our perspectives with them, Kirby said.
White House uninformed of Israel’s changing plans
The White House on Monday said it had not been informed of any change in plans for an Israeli delegation to visit Washington, despite media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had canceled the visit over Washington’s abstention from a UN vote demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s meeting at the Pentagon on Monday is separate from the delegation coming to Washington on Tuesday.
The US representative, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who abstained from the vote and did not veto the resolution, asked later that the council speak out and demand that Hamas accepts the hostage deal that is on the table.
The US did not vote yes because there was no Hamas condemnation in the resolution, according to Greenfield.
Israel Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called the failure of the resolution to condemn the October 7th massacre a disgrace. Erdan reminded the council that Israel did not “want this war,” but wanted “ceasefire and coexistence.”
Erdan criticized the UN saying that “Hamas converted every inch of Gaza into a terror machine, right under the UN nose, maybe with the help of some of the UN agencies like UNWRA.”
He also criticized a lack of action taken by the UNSC to help Israeli hostages. Saying that the council had failed to take action for the hostages, but “when it comes to Gaza the council rushed to take action,” appointing a special coordinator and creating mechanisms to send aid.
Palestinian representative Riayad Mansour welcomed the vote saying that “it has taken over 100,000 Palestinians killed and maimed, two million displaced and famine for this council to finally demand a ceasefire.”
Mansour went on to say that Israel has “doubled down” on committing crimes against Palestinians during the war, after it was ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians.
Hamas welcomed the resolution, calling on the UN Security Council to pressure Israel to implement a ceasefire. The terrorist movement also claimed that it was ready to engage in “an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides,” despite the resolution’s requirement that the release of the hostages held by Hamas be conducted “immediately and unconditionally.”
“The Hamas movement appreciates the efforts of the brothers in Algeria and all the countries in the Security Council that supported and support our people, and are working to stop the Zionist aggression and war of annihilation,” said Hamas.
The Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution as well, demanding that member states of the council work to ensure that a ceasefire is implemented.
The UK regretted that this resolution did not condemn the Hamas October 7 attack, said UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward, who added that a humanitarian catastrophe is developing in Gaza.
Woodward went on to call for the formation of a new Palestinian government in the West Bank and Gaza and to remove Hamas from leadership in Gaza.
Before voting on the resolution, the Russian Federation expressed disappointment that the resolution did not call for a “permanent” ceasefire but for a “lasting” ceasefire, saying that this wording is not strong enough.
Russia proposed to amend the draft to demand a “permanent ceasefire,” but the amendment was not passed.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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