Relations between Israel and its most important ally the United States have deteriorated dramatically after Washington failed to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution on Monday which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The security council was able to pass the resolution after the US abstained.
In response, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled this week’s planned trip to Washington by two senior officials who were due to hear US objections to Israel’s plan to attack the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million war refugees have fled.
The UN resolution, supported by 14 of the 15 security council members, called for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, but did not condition the ceasefire on their release. The US had previously blocked resolutions calling for a ceasefire.
Israel accused Washington of changing its position, saying the US decision to abstain and not veto the resolution “hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages, because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages”.
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US national security council spokesperson John Kirby denied any shift in US policy. He said the US backed a ceasefire but did not vote in favour of the resolution because the text did not condemn Hamas.
A US official said Washington was “perplexed” by Israel’s decision not to send a delegation, calling it an “overreaction” prompted by Israeli domestic political considerations.
Hamas issued a statement welcoming the UN resolution, saying it “affirms readiness to engage in immediate prisoner swaps on both sides”.
Washington has become increasingly frustrated with Mr Netanyahu in recent weeks. There have been public differences over the lack of aid entering Gaza, the plan for Rafah and the lack of a postwar arrangement, but Monday’s events mark a new low in bilateral relations since the start of the Gaza war.
The conflict began after the October 7th attack on Israel, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 32,200 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
The developments came as Israel was waiting for the Hamas response to the latest draft for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
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