After more than five months of fighting, the UN Security Council requested an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday as the United States, Israel’s partner that had previously vetoed resolutions, abstained.
All 14 other members of the Security Council voted in support of the resolution, which “demands an immediate ceasefire” during the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan, eliciting unprecedented applause.
The resolution calls for the truce to result in a “lasting, sustainable ceasefire” and demands that Hamas and other militants release prisoners kidnapped in the October 7 incident that ignited Israel’s major war campaign.
“The bloodbath has continued for far too long,” said Amar Bendjama, the representative of Algeria, the Arab bloc’s current member of the Security Council, who co-sponsored the resolution with Slovenia, Switzerland, Japan, and South Korea.
“Finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that the resolution be implemented. “Failure would be unforgivable,” Guterres wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour fought back tears as he said that the resolution should be a “turning point” in ending the war.
“Apologies to those who the world has failed, to those that could have been saved but were not,” he said.
‘No moral right to stop the war’
The United States had previously blocked Security Council resolutions putting pressure on Israel, but it has grown increasingly frustrated with its partner as the United Nations warned of looming hunger in Gaza.
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to resist US pleadings and escalate Israel’s military campaign to Rafah, the southern Gaza metropolis where around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Moments after the United States declined to veto the latest resolution, Netanyahu stated that he would no longer send a delegation to Washington to address Rafah, as requested by President Joe Biden.
It “gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was already in Washington for a different mission, stated that his country will not cease the war until the captives are released.
“We have no moral right to end the war while hostages remain in Gaza,” he shouted outside the White House.
Hamas hailed the resolution and stated that it would engage in talks on a prisoner exchange facilitated by Qatar, following repeated delays in reaching an agreement.
US says onus still on Hamas
The White House insisted that its abstention did not signal a policy shift.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who had previously warned that pressure on Israel would jeopardize ongoing talks, said that Hamas must now accept the deal to free hostages.
“A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “This is the only path to securing a ceasefire.”
She called on all nations to “speak out and demand unequivocally” that Hamas accept the deal and again accused Russia and China of failing to offer more than “rhetoric” to address the crisis.
The United States on Friday put forward a resolution that would have included a call for an immediate ceasefire but linked it more explicitly to the hostage release. Russia and China vetoed it, calling the language too vague.
On Monday, Russia introduced an amendment to add a call for a “permanent” rather than “lasting” ceasefire but the vote failed and Moscow still voted for the resolution.
“The word ‘lasting’ could be interpreted in various different ways, and that is very telling. Those who are providing cover for Israel still want to give it a free hand,” said Russia’s ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia.
France said that the resolution ended the “deafening silence” by the Security Council on Gaza but called for work on a permanent ceasefire once Ramadan ends in around two weeks.
“This crisis is not over,” said France’s UN representative, Nicolas de Riviere.
The October 7 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israel’s history, resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.
Israel responded by vowing to eliminate Hamas. Its Gaza campaign has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.