UNSC Calls For Immediate Gaza Ceasefire After US Withholds Veto

Photo: snapsindia

NEW YORK, NY (IANS) – In a breakthrough, the UN Security Council on Monday called for an immediate unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, overcoming the intense polarization after the United States agreed to abstain on the resolution in a sign of its fraying ties with Israel over the high human toll from that country’s pursuit of Hamas.

With all the other 14 members voting for it, the resolution also demanded that Hamas release the hostages it took in the October 7 terrorist assault on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed.

It called for the ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, which is already underway, and for increased humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.

UN officials have warned of famine conditions developing in Gaza to which food supplies have been limited.

The US decided to abstain in the face of growing criticism of US support for Israel’s continuing reprisals against Hamas in Gaza where about 32,000 people, many of them women and children, have been killed.

A resolution sponsored by the US was vetoed earlier by China and Russia, which they said did not explicitly demand a ceasefire but made it sound like a suggestion saying only that it was an “imperative”.

Before this one, six resolutions had been vetoed, three by the US, two jointly by China and Russia, and one by Russia alone, making the latest a breakthrough, drawing applause in the Council chamber when it passed.

The resolution was sponsored by all the 10 non-permanent members of the Council.