UN Approves US Proposal Resolution on Gaza Ceasefire, Hamas Considers Action

The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council has approved the US proposal resolution supporting a ceasefire plan between Israel and Hamas. The cease-fire plan that was unveiled on May 31 and has already been approved by Israel was pleaded with by US President Joe Biden to be accepted by Hamas. Notably, the resolution—which received 14 votes in favor—calls on Israel and Hamas to immediately and unconditionally fulfill all of its provisions.

Although it is still unclear if Israel and Hamas would agree to carry out the plan, the resolution’s overwhelming support in the UN’s most influential body increases pressure on both sides to accept it. The agreement would bring about a “durable end to the war,” according to President Biden, and “would not just be a ceasefire that would inevitably be fragile and temporary.”

Meanwhile, US State Secretary Anthony Blinken traveled to Israel on Monday in an attempt to increase international pressure on Hamas to accede to the ceasefire proposal by pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept it. Netanyahu has expressed skepticism towards the agreement, stating that Israel is dedicated to eliminating Hamas. In order to put the resolution into effect, Hamas declared that it was happy with its adoption and prepared to collaborate with intermediaries in indirect talks with Israel. In a statement, Hamas declared that it was prepared to work with mediators to put the plan’s guiding principles into practice. 

“In its statement, Hamas expressed its support for the Security Council’s resolution upholding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, total withdrawal, prisoner exchange, reconstruction, repatriation of displaced individuals to their original homes, opposition to any demographic shift or shrinkage of the Gaza Strip, and the provision of essential aid to our people residing there,” the militant group said.

According to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave, Israel’s eight-month-long assault on the Gaza Strip has resulted in the deaths of over 37,000 Palestinians. According to Israeli estimates, the war started on October 7 when Hamas militants assaulted Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping another 250 more.

Hamas silence

Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly, an Israeli ambassador, stressed following the vote that the “war will end” only when Israeli “goals are met,” such as the liberation of hostages and the dismantling of Hamas. She declared that the need for military action to free our prisoners has been demonstrated by Hamas’s reluctance to negotiate their release. Meanwhile, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, praised the council’s decision and said that “the Israeli side” bears the responsibility of carrying out the resolution and truce.

The resolution’s approval, according to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, is a positive step toward putting an end to the genocide war being waged against his people in the Gaza Strip. The UN Security Council has found it difficult to take action in the wake of the historic attack on Israel on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Israeli counterattack that followed.

After the United States abstained from the voting on two resolutions centered on humanitarian relief, the Security Council eventually requested an “immediate ceasefire” for the duration of Ramadan at the end of March. Based on Israeli official data, an AFP count shows that 1,194 people, largely civilians, were killed in Hamas’s strike on southern Israel, which set off the Gaza conflict. The health ministry of the Hamas-run region in Gaza reports that Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,124 individuals in Gaza, the majority of whom were civilians. 

The first phase of the truce included a “immediate, full and complete ceasefire,” the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian inmates detained in Israeli jails, and the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the populous areas of Gaza. It would also make it possible to provide humanitarian aid to all Palestinian citizens in need on a large scale, safely, and effectively, throughout the Gaza Strip. Vasily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN envoy, retorted that the council was “giving a carte blanche” and endorsing the proposal without “details.”

Blinken regards Hamas’s ‘hopeful’ indication of gratitude for the UN resolution

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged support for a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza at their meeting in Jerusalem. He added that he had a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu last night, during which he reiterated his support for the idea. He also claimed that it was “hopeful” that Hamas had accepted a UN vote on the ceasefire resolution that the US had crafted.

In the same way that the statement released following President Joe Biden’s proposal ten days ago was positive, he too mentioned that this is a hopeful sign. However, it’s not conclusive. What is coming from Gaza and from the Gaza leadership of Hamas is dispositive, or at least what has been dispositive thus far in one form or another. That’s what matters most. And that is what we are lacking.

Voting on a ceasefire proposal by the UN Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution approving a US-backed ceasefire proposal that aims to end Israel’s eight-month assault on Gaza. The motion supported by the United States was voted down 14-0 on Monday, with Russia voting not to participate.

The resolution supports the three-pronged cease-fire strategy that US President Joe Biden announced earlier this month. According to this plan, a six-week cease-fire would be implemented along with the swapping of some Israeli detainees held in Gaza for Palestinian inmates housed in Israeli prisons.

The next stage would see the establishment of a permanent truce and the release of the remaining prisoners. The third stage would be devoted to starting the Gaza Strip’s devastated reconstruction project.