The UN Security Council has adopted a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan in Gaza, leading to a sustainable ceasefire.
The text also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages while emphasizing the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian access to civilians in the entire Gaza Strip. Fourteen countries voted in favour of the draft while the United States abstained.
The adoption follows a failure in the Council last week to pass a US drafted text that determined the imperative for a ceasefire but failed to explicitly demand its immediate implementation. This text, an initiative of the Elected 10 non-permanent members, does exactly that.
It’s unclear if it will be implemented, particularly by Israel which is expected to criticize the resolution because it does not explicitly condemn Hamas, which has been a key ask for both Israel and the United States.
The text critically emphasizes the urgent need to expand humanitarian aid and demands the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale and in line with international humanitarian law. elected members of the body. Israeli army radio reported shortly before the council meeting started that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would cancel a planned delegation to Washington if the US did not veto the resolution.
The US has vetoed three draft council resolutions on the war in Gaza. It has also previously abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting. Russia and China have also vetoed two US drafted resolutions on the conflict – in October and on Friday
Source: BBC
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