US abstention at the UN on ceasefire in Gaza generates diplomatic crisis with Israel

After almost six months of war in the Gaza Strip, the UN Security Council adopted, this Monday, a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave during Ramadan, also demanding the release of all hostages and guaranteeing access to humanitarian aid. The text, which had 14 votes in favor and one US abstention, heightened tension between Washington and Tel Aviv, which quickly decided to cancel the trip of an Israeli delegation to the allied country.

Although the US justified its abstention with the fact that the request to add a condemnation to Hamas was denied, Israel fulfilled its promise to cancel the trip of a delegation to the country, which had the objective of discussing alternatives to the ground operation in Rafah , in the south of the Gaza Strip. “They did not veto the new text that called for a ceasefire without the condition of releasing the hostages. This is a clear retreat from its consistent position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war”, said the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement released minutes after the vote.

The same note highlights that abstention “harms both the war effort and the efforts to free the hostages, because it gives Hamas the hope that international pressure will allow it to accept a ceasefire without having to release” the prisoners.

After canceling the trip, White House security advisor John Kirby said that the institution is “perplexed” and “very disappointed” with the decision taken by the Hebrew Government, thus ruling out the opportunity for the two sides to discuss “alternatives viable” to the Israeli incursion into the south of Palestinian territory, where there are currently more than a million civilians.

Still, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed confidence that the US can find “other ways” to alert Israel to the dangers of a large-scale operation in a region with serious human weaknesses. The hope that there will be an improvement in diplomatic relations now resides in a meeting that will take place, on Tuesday, at the Pentagon and will bring together the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and his North American counterpart, Lloyd Austin.

Hamas, for its part, welcomed the resolution and said it was ready for “an immediate exchange” of prisoners with Israel, raising expectations of a breakthrough in ongoing negotiations in Doha, where intelligence chiefs and other officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a deal.