The UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza. The US declined to veto the measure, marking a major shift in American policy on the issue.
The previous position of the United States was that issuing a ceasefire resolution would damage ongoing negotiations for truce and hostage release between Israel and Hamas. US spokesperson John Kirby denied that the resolution represents a cease in US policy.
The resolution called upon Hamas to release all hostages immediately and without conditions, but did not make the call for ceasefire contingent upon the release of the hostages.
Until now, the Council had remained silent on the issue. The United States’s failure to veto signals a widening gulf between it and longtime ally Israel over the prosecution of the war in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neanyahu’s office released a statement accusing the US of abandoning its previous promise to only support a ceasefire if it was conditional upon a hostage release. It characterized the US’s fail to veto the resolution as “regrettable,” adding that this action harms ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages, because it will give Hamas hope that it can bring international pressure to bear against Israel without giving up the leverage the hostages afford it. It hopes to use the hostages to secure the release of Palestinians currently imprisoned in Israeli jails.
As a result of the US’s decision to abandon its ally, Netanyahu has canceled a series of meetings that had previously been scheduled for later this week between US officials in Washington and a delegation of Israeli officials.
While welcoming the resolution, Palastine’s UN representative Riyad Mansour complained that the action was overdue, citing Hamas’s casualty figures and blaming them on the Security Council’s reluctance to act. He reiterated that Hamas is ready to engage in a full-fledged prisoner exchange. Until then it will hold on to its hostages.
