SECURITY

UN Security Council votes for US-sponsored Gaza ceasefire resolution | United Nations News

Fourteen countries vote for the resolution, which welcomes a Gaza ceasefire proposal, as Russia abstains.

The UN Security Council has approved a resolution endorsing a ceasefire plan aimed at ending the eight-month Israeli assault on Gaza.

The vote on the US-sponsored resolution on Monday was 14-0, with Russia abstaining.

The resolution welcomes a ceasefire proposal announced by President Joe Biden that the US says Israel has accepted, although some Israeli officials have promised to continue the war until the elimination of Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza.

It calls on Hamas, which initially said it viewed the proposal “positively,” to accept the three-phase plan.

It urges Israel and Hamas “to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition”.

Hamas was quick to welcome the resolution. In a statement, Hamas said it is ready to cooperate with mediators and enter indirect negotiations over the implementation of the principles of the agreement.

Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the Security Council passed the resolution “overwhelmingly and it is binding in international law”.

The “big question moving forward”, Elizondo said, is whether it be enforced and implemented.

“The US has said very clearly that Israel has agreed to this. So that puts quite a lot of pressure on Israel to abide by this,” he said.

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters earlier on Monday that the US wanted to make sure all 15 Security Council members were on board to support what he described as “the best, most realistic opportunity to bring at least a temporary halt to this war”.

This is a developing story. More soon…


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