UN Security Council approves first ceasefire resolution for Gaza in six months of war

The abstention of the United States has allowed this Monday for the UN Security Council to approve the first ceasefire resolution in Gaza since the war began almost six months ago.

Israel had threatened to cancel a delegation's trip to Washington if the United States did not veto the proposed resolution this Monday, since, as a permanent member of the Council, a single veto was enough to derail it (Council resolutions are binding and in theory oblige the parties to abide by them, hence Israel's demand).

The abstention, therefore, puts the two traditional allies even more at odds after weeks of criticism and warnings from the White House to the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Not only has it effectively caused the suspension of the planned trip, but it will probably mark a turning point in the bilateral relationship between Washington and its main partner in the Middle East.

After Russia and China vetoed, on Friday, a draft ceasefire resolution linked to the release of the hostages that, after a month of negotiations and several rewrites, Washington had presented, no one expected anything from the instant response to the fiasco formulated by the non-permanent countries of the Security Council: the elected ones, those who lack the right of veto.

But on the same Friday, after the failure of the US draft resolution, which linked the sustained ceasefire to the release of all the hostages held by Hamas, seven non-permanent members, who were soon joined by the other three (Algeria , Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland), responded with their own proposal: a ceasefire resolution during the month of Ramadan, which this Monday was approved unanimously, thanks to the abstention of the United States, by the 14 members of the Council.

If the approval of the text is a surprise - due to the limited room for maneuver to carry out the first ceasefire resolution in six months of war -, Washington's abstention is even more so.

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The resolution, like all those issued by the UN body in charge of ensuring global peace and security, is binding, which theoretically obliges the parties - Israel and Hamas - to abide by it.

But whether it is or not, the approval of this initiative is also a small milestone in the future of the Council, since no one expected anything after the continued use of the veto by three of the five permanent members: the United States, which had previously vetoed three ceasefire projects when Washington, in concert with Israel, argued that it would give oxygen to Hamas and hinder the talks co-sponsored by Egypt and Qatar;

and Russia and China, which vetoed the only ceasefire proposal presented by Washington to the Council last Friday, just as they had vetoed another in October of lesser scope and in which the possibility of a cessation of hostilities was not even considered. .

The first binding resolution to stop the bombing in six months of war calls for “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a sustainable and lasting ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and humanitarian needs, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain.

The Security Council resolution also “emphasizes the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian aid and strengthen the protection of civilians throughout the Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand that all barriers to the delivery of aid be lifted.” "humanitarian crisis on a scale," when the enclave is on the verge of famine due to the Israeli blockade of humanitarian road convoys.

And in the face of the imminent ground offensive on Rafah, which the US categorically rejects and which Netanyahu assures will continue.

The abstention of the United States expresses, black on white in the text of the resolution, the gradual change in attitude of Joe Biden's White House towards the war, with growing criticism of the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu such as those formulated two weeks ago by the leader Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer encouraging Israelis to seek a replacement for the prime minister at the polls.

Or the also Democrat, from the most progressive faction, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who on Friday broke the taboo around the word genocide by describing the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza as such, something she had resisted.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has become another electoral card in the United States with only seven months left for the presidential elections, with serious warnings to President Biden for his support for Israel on the part of young voters and those of Arab origin. .

Washington's abstention this Monday may have further acrimonious positions between the United States and Israel.

While Schumer's words, which Netanyahu called interference, were still relevant, Israeli army radio reported today, shortly before the Security Council meeting began, that Netanyahu would cancel the planned trip of a delegation to Washington if the United States did not vetoed the text.

Said and done: the cancellation announcement was immediate.

In addition to the novel American abstention - it had previously done so in two other resolutions, but neither of them ceasefire, but rather in favor of pauses in the fighting to create humanitarian corridors -, the vote showed the unanimity of the rest of the Council, since that the remaining 14 members voted in favor of the text.

Although six months of war later, the text approved this Monday represents, symbolically, the triumph of the little ones in a Council blocked by the old veto system, whose reform has been requested by the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres.

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