UN Security Council demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza, US abstains from vote

UN Security Council passes new resolution demanding immediate ceasefire in Gaza

On Monday (25 March), the United Nations (UN) Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in a new resolution.

The United States (US) abstained from voting for the resolution, while the remaining 14 council members voted for it.

The resolution also orders the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

New UN resolution demands ceasefire in Gaza

Reuters reported that 10 elected members of the council proposed the resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas .

Following the vote, applause was heard in the council chamber.

Source: Reuters

US failing to veto the resolution was a “clear retreat” from its earlier stance, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Thus far, US has been disinclined to the word “ceasefire” during the ongoing war in Gaza.

It has vetoed three draft council resolutions on the conflict, also abstaining twice to allow the adoption of resolutions aiming to enhance aid to Gaza and issue extended pauses in fighting.

Netanyahu said that the abstinence from the vote would hurt Israel’s war efforts and attempts to release more than 130 hostages under Hamas.

White House Spokesperson John Kirby said, “Our vote does not, and I repeat that, does not represent a shift in our policy. Nothing has changed about our policy.”

Israeli PM cancels visit to Washington after UN vote

After the vote, Netanyahu cancelled a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation.

Source: Reuters

The delegation would have discussed a planned Israeli military operation in Rafah, housing about 1.5 million Palestinians seeking shelter.

A US official told Reuters that the US was “perplexed” by Israel’s decision and viewed it as an “overreaction.”

The US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington could not vote yes on the resolution as it “did not agree with everything”, despite it containing edits the US had requested, CNN reports.

“A ceasefire could have come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages,” she said. The ambassador also urged member states and the Security Council to demand that Hamas “accepts the deal on the table.”

“Any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages,” she added.

UN Secretary General calls for implementation of resolution

Both Hamas and the Palestinian authority welcomed the resolution. However, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan criticised the measure for demanding a ceasefire “without conditioning it on the release of the hostages.”

“It undermines the efforts to secure their release,” he said.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres posted to X about the resolution, stating that its implementation must take place.

Source: @antonioguterres on X

“This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable,” he stated.

The resolution also “emphasises the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale.”

Citing the United Kingdom’ (UK) ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall-Grant, the BBC reported that the resolution is legally binding on Israel but not Hamas. This is because the Palestinian group is not a state.

Also read: ‘Astonishing attempt to rewrite history’: Israeli embassy in S’pore told to remove Facebook post about Palestine

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Featured image adapted from United Nations.