U.N. Passes Resolution Calling for Gaza Ceasefire After U.S. Abstention, Israel Cancels Washington Meeting

By Matis Glenn

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States declined to use its veto power to block it, leading Israel to cancel a planned meeting in Washington to discuss plans for Rafah.

A separate resolution called for the “unconditional” release of the hostages held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

Previous resolutions did not mandate the release of hostages, instead calling for Israel to stop its offensive against the terror group in Gaza, and were supported by countries including China and Russia, both of whom vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution on Friday which included a clause demanding the release of the hostages.

Monday’s resolution, supported by 14 out of 15 council members, calls for an immediate ceasefire during the Muslim month of Ramadan.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that in adopting the resolution, the Security Council “spoke out in support” of the ongoing diplomatic efforts led by the US, Qatar and Egypt to bring about an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, secure the immediate release of all hostages, and help alleviate the tremendous suffering of Palestinian civilians in need in Gaza.

“The United States fully supports these critical objectives,” she said.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the resolution, saying that the ceasefire needed to be directly predicated on the release of the hostages. He also accused Washington of back peddling and stated that such a resolution would embolden terrorism.

“This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent U.S. position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office read. “Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages.”

Netanyahu also cancelled a planned meeting between an Israeli delegation and U.S. officials regarding military operations in Rafah, the last remaining stronghold of Hamas in Gaza.

The Prime Minister “made it clear last night that should the US depart from its principled policy and not veto this harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegation’s visit to the United States. In light of the change in the U.S. position, PM Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel,” the statement continued.

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan also criticized the resolution, highlighting the lack of condemnation of Hamas’ terror attacks while the body was quick to do so regarding a terror attack in Russia on Friday.

“The Security Council was justifiably quick – very quick – to condemn Friday’s terror attack in Russia, just as it waited no time to condemn the terror attack in Iran against a police station back in December,” Erdan said. “Yet still – to this day – the Council refuses to condemn the most widespread and barbaric massacre suffered by the Jewish people since the Holocaust…Your demand for a ceasefire without conditioning it on the release of the hostages, not only isn’t helpful, but it undermines the effort to secure their release.

“It is harmful to these efforts, because it gives Hamas terrorists the hope to get a ceasefire without releasing the hostages. All members of the Council – all members – should have voted against this shameful resolution!”

Erdan gave another example of what he says is the U.N.’s double standard for how it treats Israel. He says that while the Security Council exerted efforts to free children held prisoner by the Boko Haram Islamic terror group in Nigeria, they have not used the same tools to free Israeli hostages.

“Why can this Council call on Boko Haram to lay down their arms, but the same cannot be demanded of the murderous Hamas terrorists?” Erdan asked. “Is the life of little baby Kfir Bibas worth less than the life of a Nigerian child? Sadly, it’s for the same reason why you can condemn terror attacks in Russia and Iran, but not in Israel.

“To this Council, Israeli blood is cheap. This is a travesty and I’m disgusted.”

The U.N.’s official news website used quotation marks to describe Erdan’s criticism, referring to it as “discrimination,” but did not do so when citing Yemen’s Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, on behalf of the Arab Group, when he claimed that Israel has engaged in genocide, the targeting of women and children and an intentional starvation. Al-Saadi also used a mocking term for the IDF, calling them the “Israel occupation forces,” an insult used frequently in anti-Israel circles, but this statement too was not put in quotation marks.

National Union party chair and member of the war cabinet Benny Gantz said that the resolution doesn’t have any practical ramifications for Israel, and stressed the relationship between the U.S. and his country.

“The State of Israel has a moral obligation to continue fighting until the abductees are returned and the threat of Hamas is removed and that is what we will do,” Gantz said. “The Security Council’s decision has no operational significance for us, and in any case, we will continue to listen to our friends, and we will always do what is right for Israel’s security.

“At the same time, it is important to remember – the special relationship between Israel and the United States is an anchor in Israel’s security and foreign relations, and the direct dialogue with the American administration is an essential asset that must not be given up even when there are challenges and disputes.

“The USA did well to make it clear that a ceasefire will be held depending on the return of the abductees.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is set to meet with U.S. officials later in the day, said that such a move would bring closer the possibility of a war on the northern front with Lebanon.

“We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza,” Gallant said. “The lack of a decisive victory in Gaza may bring us closer to a war in the north.”

Barbara Woodward, British ambassador to the U.N., said that she was disappointed that the resolution did not condemn Hamas’ terrorism.

“We regret that this resolution has not condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October,” she said, but it sets out the urgent demand for the unconditional release of all hostages.