Netanyahu says cancellation of US visit was signal to Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has justified cancelling a visit by a high-ranking Israeli delegation to the US by saying it was intended to send a message to Hamas.

Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday that the militant Palestinian organization was convinced that international pressure following the latest resolution by the UN Security Council would prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said he wanted to let the Islamists know that they could not rely on this pressure having any effect on Israel. "I hope they have understood the message," he said.

In a resolution which is binding under international law, the UN Security Council called on Monday for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, for the first time since the start of the war. The UN body also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas. The US waived its right of veto in the vote and abstained.

Netanyahu responded immediately by cancelling the Israeli delegation's visit to Washington. Observers interpreted the move as an angry reaction to the American abstention. "I thought the US decision in the Security Council was a very, very bad move," Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

During the planned visit high-ranking US government representatives had wanted to present the Israelis with alternatives to a ground offensive in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Israel's military action in the Gaza war is increasingly straining relations between the two countries.