UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. has passed its first resolution endorsing a cease-fire plan aimed at ending an eight-month period. War between Israel and Hamas In Gaza.
The US-sponsored resolution welcomes a cease-fire proposal announced by President Joe Biden, which the US says Israel has accepted. It calls on the Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a three-phase plan.
The resolution – which was voted in favor by 14 of the 15 Security Council members and Russia abstained – calls for the “immediate and unconditional full implementation” of Israel and Hamas.
Whether Israel and Hamas will agree to move forward with the plan remains in question, but the resolution’s strong backing in the most powerful UN body puts added pressure on both sides to approve the proposal.
US Secretary of State Anthony Wink something in Israel On Monday, he urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the post-war Gaza plan as he pressed for more international pressure on Hamas to agree to a cease-fire proposal. Netanyahu was skeptical of the deal, saying Israel was still committed to destroying Hamas.
Hamas said it welcomed the adoption of the resolution and said it was ready to work with mediators in indirect talks with Israel to implement it. The statement was the strongest from Hamas to date, but it insisted that the group would continue its struggle against Israeli occupation and work towards establishing a “fully sovereign” Palestinian state.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said on Tuesday, “Efforts are continuing to examine and clarify certain matters to ensure implementation by the Israeli side.” Israel “creates obstacles and delays the continuation of the occupation,” he said.
While a senior Israeli diplomat did not directly address the resolution, the council said Israel’s position was unwavering: “We will continue until all hostages are returned and Hamas’ military and governing capabilities are removed.”
“It also means that Israel will not engage in pointless and endless negotiations, which could be used by Hamas as a means of stalling over time,” said Reed Shabir Ben Naftali, adviser to the minister.
However, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield reiterated that Israel has accepted the cease-fire agreement, which is supported by countries around the world.
The adoption of the resolution, he said, “sent a clear message to Hamas to accept the ceasefire agreement on the table.”
“If Hamas did the same, the fighting could stop today,” Thomas-Greenfield told the council. “I repeat, this fight can stop today.”
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters on Monday that the US sees the deal as “the best, most realistic opportunity to at least temporarily stop this war”.
Earlier on Monday, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders discussed a proposed cease-fire deal in Qatar, and later said any deal would lead to a permanent cease-fire, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction and a “serious exchange deal.” Between hostages in Gaza and Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassiliy Nebenzia said Moscow did not vote because the details of the three-phase plan had not been disclosed and “we have many questions”.
“Hamas has been invited to accept this so-called agreement, but there is still no clarity on the official agreement from Israel,” Nebenzia said. “Given Israel’s many statements about prolonging the war until Hamas is completely defeated…what specifically has Israel agreed to?”
Algeria’s UN ambassador Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative to the council, said that while the text was not perfect, “it gives a ray of hope to the Palestinians because the Palestinian people continue to be killed and suffer.”
“We voted for this text to give diplomacy an opportunity to reach an agreement that ends the aggression against the Palestinian people,” Bendjama said.
The war was sparked by Hamas. October 7 attack in southern Israel The militants killed about 1,200 people, mainly Israeli civilians, and took about 250 hostages. There are about 120 hostages, 43 dead.
More than 36,700 Palestinians have been killed and more than 83,000 injured in Israel’s military offensive. Gaza Ministry of Health. It destroyed 80% of Gaza’s buildings, according to the UN
The Security Council adopted a resolution on March 25 calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with the US abstaining but not ending the war.
Monday’s resolution “underscores the importance of ongoing diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. A Comprehensive Armistice Agreementconsists of three phases” and says that “the three countries are ready to ensure that negotiations continue until all agreements are reached”.
Biden’s May 31 announcement of the new proposal said it would begin with an initial six-week ceasefire and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in Gaza and the return of all Palestinian civilians. Areas in the territory.
Phase one calls for the safe distribution of humanitarian aid “throughout the Gaza Strip,” Biden said, which would lead to 600 trucks of aid entering Gaza each day.
In phase two, the resolution calls for a “full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in exchange for a permanent end to hostilities and the release of all other hostages in Gaza,” with Israel and Hamas agreeing.
The third phase will begin “a major multi-year reconstruction program for Gaza and the return of the remains of hostages still dead in Gaza to their families.”
The resolution reiterates the Security Council’s “unwavering commitment to achieving the vision of a negotiated two-state solution in which the two democratic states of Israel and Palestine can live in peace within secure and recognized borders.”
It also stresses “the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under Palestinian Authority”. Netanyahu’s right-wing government disagreed.
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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.
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This story has been corrected to show that the first phase of the proposed ceasefire would last six weeks, not six months.
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