passed by the United Nations Security Council A US-brokered cease-fire deal aimed at ending eight months of bloody fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A draft of the resolution, endorsed by President Joe Biden, was finalized Sunday after nearly a week of negotiations among members of the 15-member council.
For it to pass, the resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the countries that have the power to send any armistice plan to the drafting committee – the US, France, Britain, China or Russia.
China took no action to stop it, and Russia ignored it.
“Today, we voted for peace,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN.
In March, China and Russia vetoed a Gaza ceasefire resolution that it said would have given Israel the green light to attack the town of Rafah. Before that, the US had vetoed three draft resolutions, two of which would have called for an immediate ceasefire.
Biden announced on May 31 that Israel had proposed a three-part plan that would eventually lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of all hostages held there since October 7, when Hamas began the bloodbath. A surprise attack on Israel.
According to Gaza health officials, more than 36,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children, have been killed by Israeli forces.
Nate Evans, a spokesman for the US embassy to the UN, said on Sunday that it was important for the Security Council to pressure Hamas to accept a proposal that Israel had accepted.
“Israel has accepted this proposal and there is an opportunity for the Security Council to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” he said.
But there are already signs that Israel may not be in this plan.
Saturday’s dramatic rescue of four hostages strengthened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to continue the Gaza invasion rather than agree to a ceasefire, a senior Biden administration official told NBC News on Sunday.
Hamas, on the other hand, released a statement that read, in part, “We welcome the inclusion and confirmation of the Security Council resolution on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
The Israeli retaliatory strike has caused concern as many Palestinian civilians have been killed. Hamas military chief Yahya Shinwar, who opposes any deal with Israel despite intense pressure from Qatar and Egypt for a deal, will take an even tougher line against the new cease-fire proposal.
The European Union also applauded the vote. “We call on both sides to accept and implement the three-phase proposal,” the EU said in a statement.
The first stage of the decision, UNIt seeks “an immediate, full and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, the return of the remains of some of the killed hostages and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners”.
It calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from “populated areas” of Gaza, the return of Palestinians to their homes, and the “safe and effective” distribution of humanitarian aid.
The second phase involves a permanent cessation of hostilities “in exchange for the release of all hostages still in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”
The third phase will mark the start of “a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza” and the last remnants of hostages still dead in Gaza. Returned to Israel.
“The ceasefire will continue as long as negotiations continue” and the Security Council rejects “any attempt at demographic or territorial change in Gaza”.
As the Security Council began voting on Monday, Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel to meet with retired General Benny Gantz.
Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s war cabinet, resigned on Sunday, blaming Netanyahu Mismanaging the war and refusing to agree on what will happen to Gaza after the war ends.
The Biden administration tried to persuade Gantz to stay in government because his departure would make Netanyahu lean heavily on far-right members of his coalition who oppose any ceasefire with Hamas.
Before leaving, Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Cairo that Israelis should decide who should be in their government. But if there is no ceasefire in Gaza, three scenarios could play out – all of them bad.
“One is for Israel to stay, which (it) says it doesn’t want to do, which we believe it shouldn’t do, and we’re left holding the bag in Gaza,” Blinken said.
Second, it could lead to “a big insurgency” that would continue for years, he said.
Finally, Blinken said, “In the absence of a plan, it means that Hamas returns, or we have a total vacuum, and you have chaos, lawlessness, crime, jihadist groups, etc.”
Israel says more than 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. More than 100 hostages are believed to be held in Gaza, including five Americans: Eden Alexander, Sagui Tekel-Chen, Hersh Goldberg-Bolin, Omar Neutra and Keith Siegel.
