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US defies Israel, declines to veto UN ceasefire resolution

Biden administration refuses to veto Security Council resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire, ignoring Netanyahu’s ultimatum.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Hamas terror organization, after the United States delegation declined to veto the measure.

The resolution, which was drafted jointly by the delegations from Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Slovenia, South Korea, Malta, Japan, Mozambique, Ecuador, Algeria, and Guyana, passed the Security Council 14-0, with only the U.S. abstaining.

The measure “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip.

Separately, the resolution “also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain.”

Israel had objected to the resolution, saying that it did not condition the ceasefire on the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza.

Shortly before the vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called on the U.S. mission to the UN to use its veto to block the resolution, threatening to withdraw an Israeli delegation to Washington if the measure was allowed to pass.

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‘’If the USA does not veto the resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not dependent on the release of the hostages, I will cancel the Israeli delegation’s trip to Washington,’’ Netanyahu said.

The Israeli delegation had been slated to discuss alternatives to the planned Rafah operation.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield disputed Israel’s interpretation of Monday’s resolution, claiming that a ceasefire in Gaza must be part of an agreement securing the release of Israeli hostages.