After more than five months of war, the UN Security Council finally adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an
“immediate ceasefire”
in Gaza, a call blocked several times by the United States, which this time abstained, increasing the pressure on their Israeli ally.
The resolution adopted to applause by 14 votes in favor, with one abstention,
“demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan”
– which already began two weeks ago –, should
“lead to a ceasefire -sustained fire”
, and
“demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”
.
“For five months, the Palestinian people have suffered terribly. This bloodbath has continued for too long. It is our obligation to put an end to it. Finally, the Security Council is taking its responsibilities
,” said Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama, even if the Council's binding resolutions are regularly ignored by the States concerned.
Unlike the American text rejected Friday by Russian and Chinese vetoes, it does not link these requests to the diplomatic efforts of Qatar, the United States and Egypt, even if it “
recognizes”
the existence of these talks aimed at a truce accompanied by an exchange of Palestinian hostages and prisoners.
On Friday, Russia and China vetoed a draft American resolution emphasizing the
“need”
for an
“immediate ceasefire”
in Gaza in connection with negotiations for the release of hostages captured during the bloody and unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 on Israeli soil.
Some observers had seen this as a substantial evolution in the position of Washington, under pressure to limit its support for Israel while the Israeli offensive has left more than 32,000 dead in Gaza, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
The United States had until then systematically opposed the term
“ceasefire”
in UN resolutions, blocking three texts to this effect.
But the rejected American text did not explicitly call for an immediate ceasefire, using wording considered ambiguous by Arab countries, China and Russia, which denounced the
“hypocritical spectacle”
of the United States.
The resolution adopted Monday resulted from the work of non-permanent members of the Council, who negotiated all weekend with the United States to try to avoid another failure, according to diplomatic sources.
The resolution also calls for the
“removal of all obstacles”
to humanitarian aid.
The Council, largely divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue for years, had until then only been able to adopt since October 7 on this issue two resolutions (out of eight submitted to the vote), which were essentially humanitarian.
Without much result: after five and a half months of war, the entry of aid into Gaza, besieged, remains largely insufficient and famine looms.