AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The United States abstained from the vote.
The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution on Monday.
The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a “lasting, sustainable ceasefire” and demands that Hamas free captives seized in their October 7 attack of Israel.
“The bloodbath has continued for far too long,” said Amar Bendjama, the representative of Algeria, the Arab bloc’s current member of the Security Council and a sponsor of the resolution. “Finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility,” he said.
The United States had repeatedly blocked Security Council resolutions that put pressure on Israel to end the Israeli-American genocide in Gaza.
Speaking after the vote, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blamed Hamas for the delay in passing a ceasefire resolution.
“We did not agree with everything with the resolution,” which she says is the reason why the US abstained.
“Certain key edits were ignored, including our request to add a condemnation of Hamas,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Tensions between the US and Israel were exposed on Monday when Washington stood aside and allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The US decision to abstain on the vote prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled trip to the US by two of his top advisers, two Israeli officials said.
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