Gaza cease-fire resolution passes U.N. Security Council
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The U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 on a resolution in favor of calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. abstaining from voting.
The U.S. choosing not to veto the resolution prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull a delegation that was planned to go to Washington, according to CNBC. Netanyahu called the U.S. decision a “clear retreat” from its prior stance on the war in Gaza.
What does the U.N. cease-fire resolution call for?
The resolution calls for an “immediate” cease-fire during the month of Ramadan and the “unconditional” release of all hostages, Axios reported.
Ramadan ends April 9, so if there is a cease-fire, it’ll be “short-lived,” according to NPR.
The resolution vote was the first relating to a cease-fire to pass the security council and followed four failed attempts, Politico reported. Prior attempts failed due to disagreements among the U.S., China and Russia over resolution phrasing.
On Friday, China and Russia vetoed a U.S. proposal over “the U.S. insistence on linking the cease-fire call to a hostage deal and condemnation of Hamas,” according to Axios.
Even though the resolution passed, “the breakthrough in New York is far from a sign that Russia, China and the United States are now aligned on the Israel-Hamas war,” Politico reported.
What does the resolution mean for U.S.-Israel relations?
An Israeli delegation was due to travel to Washington, D.C., and Netanyahu warned prior to the vote that he would cancel the trip if the U.S. didn’t veto the U.N. resolution, according to NPR.
Israel’s government responded with a statement after the resolution passed.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that if the US withdraws from its principled position, he will not send the Israeli delegation to the US. In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation would not go,” the statement said.
The “high-level” delegation was going to talk through a planned military operation to the south of Gaza, in Rafah, NPR reported. There, more than a million Palestinians have fled from the war in Gaza.
The Biden administration denied that abstaining from the vote meant it’s changed its stance on American policy toward Israel, according to CNBC.
The White House was “very disappointed” in Netanyahu’s decision to pull the delegation, Axios reported.
