After 6 months, thousands of people been killed, over 2 million people been displaced, and major famine UN security council has finally demanded a ceasefire on Gaza.
After many unsuccessful attempts, the council has finally called for a truce since the battle started in October.
With that been passed, it has also demanded for unconditional release of all the hostages.
In addition to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist organization that controls Gaza and started the conflict by striking Israel on October 7, the resolution was also favorably accepted by the Palestinian delegate to the UN, Riyad Mansour.
14 nations voted in favor of the measure, while the United States abstained.
This gave rise to tension between the United States and Israel, as it stood aside and let the UN SC pass the resolution.
“Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution,” stated Israeli PM Benajmin Netanyahu condemning the United States decision to abstain.
Additionally, the statement said that this undermined attempts to rescue the hostages by giving Hamas optimism that it might apply pressure from outside on Israel to secure a truce without releasing the prisoners.
According to John Kirby, a spokesman for the United States National Security Council, the Unites States did not “shift in our policy” when it decided to allow the resolution to pass. He said that although it did not support the resolution because it did not denounce Hamas, it did support a truce.
Although the most recent resolution had revisions that the United States had sought, according to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington was unable to vote in favor of it because it “did not agree with everything.”
The United States was able to argue for the wording to be changed so that it included a durable ceasefire and included language regarding the current captive release efforts, the person said. Originally, the statement sought a permanent ceasefire and did not mention discussions to liberate hostages. According to the individual, the United States felt that the resolution was in line with its policy for these reasons—a belief that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also shared.
“Because the final text does not have key language we view as essential, notably a condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it. This failure to condemn Hamas is particularly difficult to understand coming days after the world once again witnessed the horrific acts terrorist groups commit,” Blinken said in a statement.
US and Israel relations
The United States has historically placed a high priority on the Middle East because of the numerous interconnected goals that successive administrations have pursued there, including protecting critical energy resources, thwarting the influence of the Soviet Union and Iran, preserving the security and survival of Israel and its Arab allies, combating terrorism, advancing democracy, and lowering the number of refugees. In response, the US has worked to achieve these strategic goals by resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which has significantly influenced regional dynamics, while striking a balance between its support for Israel and its advocacy of greater regional stability.
When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, the United States was the first nation to recognize its provisional government. Over the years, the United States has been a steadfast and resolute backer of the Jewish state. The United States has committed to Israel’s security and the two countries shared foreign policy interests in a volatile and strategically significant region of the world, which have resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid for Israel during the post-World War II era.
Unlike the United States and its allies, Japan and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the two nations do not have a mutual defense treaty. On the other hand, Israel enjoys special access to the most cutting-edge U.S. military equipment and capabilities as one of the few “major non-NATO allies.”
Although Biden has been a staunch advocate for Israel’s right to self-defense and has continued to provide military backing to the country, he and a few members of the United States Congress are worried about how the Benjamin Netanyahu administration is handling the conflict. Biden issued a warning in December 2023 during congressional deliberations on a measure that would have provided $14 billion in emergency assistance for Israel, citing the danger of Israel losing world support due to its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza. Meanwhile, a few Democratic members tried to attach United States assistance to Israel’s promises to reduce the number of civilian deaths. On that very day, a cease-fire in Gaza was overwhelmingly approved by the UN General Assembly, with just ten out of 190 nations—including the US—voting against it.
However, on December 12, as the UN was about to vote on requiring a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Biden spoke out in unusually harsh terms, warning that Israel was losing support from other countries as a result of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.
The United States had intended to veto again this time, but intense diplomatic attempts were made to reach a solution that would allow them to abstain.
