For the first time since the start of the conflict in Gaza, the UN Security Council approved a resolution calling for “an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan”. The text was approved thanks to the abstention and veto of the United States as before. A decision, specified the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, that “does not represent a change in our policy”. The US abstained due to the lack of condemnation of Hamas in the resolution and continues “to support a ceasefire as part of a hostage agreement,” he explained.
But Israel’s reaction was not long in coming: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revoked the mission to Washington of a delegation that was supposed to discuss alternatives to a ground operation in Rafah with the Biden administration. The resolution “damages both the war effort and the attempt to free the hostages, because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” explained the prime minister’s office. The fact that the resolution approved by the UN Security Council does not condemn the Hamas attack on October 7 “is a shame”, said the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan.
For Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on an official visit to the US for meetings with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israel “does not have the moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza ”. The lack of a decisive victory in Gaza could bring us closer to a war in the North.” Washington made it known, through Kirby, that he was “very disappointed” with the cancellation of the Israeli mission in the USA.
Hamas welcomed the UN resolution, reiterating its call for “a permanent ceasefire that leads to the withdrawal of all Zionist forces from the Gaza Strip and the return of displaced people.” The Palestinian group also said it was willing to “engage in an immediate process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides”. «This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable”, commented UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who this morning condemned the stop imposed by Israel on UNRWA in the delivery of aid to the north of the Strip, calling it “totally unacceptable”.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
