After almost six months, the Security Council has spoken, it seems, almost with one voice. Yes, the US abstained, but that doesn’t affect the vote.
The vote was almost unanimous: 14 votes in favour of a resolution demanding a lasting and immediate ceasefire in Gaza. That is very, very significant because the US has used its veto on four different occasions — three times on a resolution and once on an amendment to the resolution.
This time, the US let this pass. They negotiated it, they tried to change it a bit, and they were not happy with the fact that it did not condemn Hamas. Two diplomatic sources said that in the run-up to the vote, the US was proposing its own amendment to put in a line condemning Hamas, but they decided not to.
UNSC silence on Gaza was becoming deafening: France
The French ambassador to the UN says the adoption of the resolution shows that the body can “still act when all of its members make the necessary effort to discharge their mandate”.
“The Security Council’s silence on Gaza was becoming deafening. It is high time now for the council to finally contribute to finding a solution,” Nicolas de Riviere said at the session.
“This crisis is not over, alas, and our council will have to remain mobilised and immediately get back to work. It will have to, following Ramadan, which finishes in two weeks, it will have to establish a permanent ceasefire.
“It will need to strive to see the recovery and stabilisation of Gaza finally, and above all, the Security Council will have to get a political process back on track, a political process aiming to bring about the two-state solution – the only solution able to guarantee peace.”
US ‘finally’ stops blocking the UNSC, China says
The Chinese ambassador to the UN says Beijing’s stance on calling for a ceasefire has been clear from the beginning of the war on Gaza.
“After repeated vetoes of the council’s actions, the United States finally decided to stop obstructing the council’s demands for an immediate ceasefire. Despite all this, the US still tried to find all kinds of excuses and made accusations against China,” Zhang Jun said.
“Mr president, nearly six months after the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, over 32,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives. For the lives that have already perished, the council resolution today comes too late, but for the millions of people in Gaza who remain mired in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, this resolution, if fully and effectively implemented, could still bring long-awaited hope,” he added.
“Security Council resolutions are binding.”
Slovenia says UNSC resolution sends ‘strongest signal thus far’
Slovenia, one of the 10 countries that proposed the UN Security Council resolution, welcomes its passage and says this support shows the leadership of these 10 countries for peace.
“UNSC delivered the strongest signal thus far: We demand an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a lasting ceasefire. It is a call we have all been desperate to hear from the council,” said Samuel Zbogar, Slovenia’s ambassador.
Malta says UN resolution must be ‘fully implemented’
Malta is contributing to calls for full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution that legally binds Israel to an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for roughly the next two weeks.
The central Mediterranean country, which was one of the 10 countries to propose the resolution, also welcomed its passage.
British ambassador says UK ‘regrets’ absence of October 7 condemnation
Barbara Woodward, the UK’s ambassador to the UN, expressed “regret” that the resolution did not condemn the October 7 Hamas attacks, adding that the UK “condemns” the attacks “unequivocally”.
“The intense suffering of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza shows no sign of abating, and a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes,” she said. “The resolution sends a clear and united message on the need for international humanitarian law to be upheld and for aid to be scaled up urgently, including the lifting of all barriers impeding its delivery.
“We call for this resolution to be implemented immediately. Mr. president, we need to focus on how we chart the way from an immediate humanitarian pause to a lasting, sustainable peace without a return to fighting.
“That means the formation of a new Palestinian government for the West Bank and Gaza accompanied by an international support package.”
Netanyahu cancels US trip for Israeli delegation
US and Israeli media are reporting that Netanyahu has halted the delegation’s planned visit to the US after the country abstained during a vote on a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The delegation, which was to travel to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden’s White House, was meant to meet with US officials on Israel’s planned offensive on Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city and the last major urban centre untouched by an Israeli ground assault.
The US has said it would not support Israel’s planned invasion without a clear plan to protect the nearly 1.5 million civilians sheltering in Rafah although senior members of the Biden administration have hardened their position in recent days, saying any offensive would be a disaster.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir: ‘UN is a wasteland’
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister of Israel, says “the United Nations is a wasteland” in reaction to the UN Security Council vote.
Along with calling for a ceasefire and more humanitarian aid to Gaza, the resolution obligates the parties to the war to “comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all people they detain”.
Israel’s UN envoy slams resolution as ‘shameful’
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, says the resolution failed to demand a ceasefire without “conditioning” it on the release of captives in Gaza, saying it “undermines the efforts to secure their release”.
“It is harmful to these efforts because it gives Hamas terrorists hope to get a ceasefire without releasing the hostages. All members of the council … should have voted against this shameless resolution,” he said.
“The resolution says that taking civilians is in violation of international law. Yet on the other hand, despite the fact that you know Hamas won’t listen to your calls and release the hostages, you demand a ceasefire. Take a moment and think about this moral contradiction,” Erdan said.
‘We will operate against Hamas everywhere’: Gallant
Israel’s defence minister says ahead of meetings in the White House that Israel will not stop its war on Gaza.
Yoav Gallant, according to a statement from his office, said he would stress in his meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: “We will operate against Hamas everywhere – including in places where we have not yet been.”
“We will identify an alternative to Hamas, so that the IDF [Israeli army] may complete its mission,” he said. We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.”
Smotrich calls on Israel to ignore US reprimand in Security Council
Israel’s far-right finance minister is being quoted by local broadcaster Channel 7 as saying that “the US decision not to impose a veto in the Security Council plays into Hamas’s hands”, and will ultimately make the return of Israeli captives held in Gaza more difficult.
Earlier, the US abstained during a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza until the end of Ramadan and the release of all captives. The US vetoed three prior attempts to achieve similar resolutions since the war on Gaza began on October 7.
“Our relationship with the US has always been one of partners, but not of a patron state. This is not the first time that an Israeli government has been required to make decisions contrary to the US government’s position” Bezalel Smotrich said, adding that Israel will “not stop” its war on Gaza until Hamas is destroyed and all of its captives held there are returned.
No shift in Gaza policy despite UNSC resolution abstention: US
The White House says Washington’s abstention from a UN vote demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza “does not represent a shift in our policy, … but because the final text does not have the language that we think is essential, like a condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it”.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said US officials are “very disappointed about Netanyahu’s decision not to send his advisers for talks at the White House about the Rafah operation”.
US disappointed at Netanyahu’s decision to cancel Israeli delegation’s US trip
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller tells reporters during a briefing in Washington that it is “surprising and unfortunate” that an Israeli delegation is no longer coming to scheduled talks this week after the US abstained from a UN vote demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Miller added that a ground offensive in Rafah, the last refuge for about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population after the arrival of many people displaced by fighting elsewhere, would be a mistake and would weaken Israel’s security.
Russia says important to ‘vote in favour of peace’
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Alekseyevich Nebenzya, says his country hopes the Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza will be used in the “interests of peace” rather than advancing the “inhumane Israeli operation against Palestinians”.
So why do you veto resolutions on a ceasefire in Ukraine, hypocrites.
Hamas insists on permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
Hamas welcomes the UN Security Council resolution but also emphasises its own positions on a ceasefire and the release of captives.
The group said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel:
- It stresses the necessity of reaching a permanent ceasefire that leads to the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the return of the displaced to their homes.
- It affirms its readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides.
- In the context of the text of the resolution, it stresses the importance of the freedom of movement of Palestinians and access to humanitarian aid in all areas of the Gaza Strip.
- It calls on the UNSC to pressure Israel to adhere to the ceasefire and stop its war.
- It affirms the right of Palestinian people to establish an independent, sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return and self-determination in accordance with international resolutions and international law.
Problem with truce negotiations is not related to captives: Hamas leader
Hussam Badran, member of the group’s political bureau, says the issue with talks on securing a ceasefire is related, rather, to Israel’s refusal to provide guarantees on basic issues related to the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Badran said these issues include stopping the onslaught, allowing aid into the besieged coastal enclave, the return of the displaced and a clear reconstruction plan. “The problem is not limited to the release of captives as Israel claims,” he said.
He also said Netanyahu does not want to reach a ceasefire and is “deceiving his people and the families of the prisoners to cover up his political and security failures”.
