Israel- Hamas war: The approval of a UN Security Council resolution urging an immediate end to hostilities gave Hamas confidence to reject the latest ceasefire proposal, according to Israel’s foreign minister.
On Monday night, Hamas released a statement turning down the latest offer, citing Israel’s failure to meet its key demands for a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal from the Strip, return of displaced individuals, and a genuine prisoner exchange. Israel Katz, speaking to Israeli Army Radio, suggested that the UN resolution signaled mounting international pressure on Israel, implying that Hamas could simply wait for the conflict to end without making concessions.
Katz criticized the US for not vetoing the resolution, highlighting that it did not condemn Hamas, indicating a rift between Israel and its key ally. At a UN security meeting in New York, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized the resolution and the council for not condemning Hamas, clarifying that the US disagreed with certain aspects of the resolution, leading to its abstention. Unlike previous occasions, the US did not use its veto power.
The resolution, passed on Monday, called for an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan and the release of hostages by Hamas. Notably, it did not explicitly blame Hamas for the October 7 attack or link the ceasefire to the release of hostages, a crucial concern for Israel.
One of the ongoing challenges in ceasefire talks is Hamas’s demand for Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza. In previous ceasefire pauses, Israeli troops remained in position but did not engage in conflict despite some hostage releases.
On Monday, the White House implied that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately trying to provoke a rift in US-Israel relations after he scrapped plans for an Israeli delegation to visit Washington in response to the Biden administration’s stance on a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Netanyahu asserted that the US abstention from the vote diverged from their previous stance, which linked a ceasefire to the release of hostages by Hamas, but US officials countered that this was not their interpretation of the resolution and that their position on the matter remained unchanged.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, remarked during a press briefing that it appears the Prime Minister’s Office is opting to create a perception of discord where none exists unnecessarily.
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