(TargetDailyNews.com) – The UN Security Council voted on Monday, March 25th, to pass a resolution that demanded a two-week cease-fire in Gaza and a return of all the hostages taken on October 7th. Israel was angered by the U.S.’s refusal to scuttle the resolution, canceling a pre-planned trip to Washington D.C. by some of its officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the U.S. was “retreating” from its former position of suggesting a ceasefire must be conditional on the release of hostages. While the current resolution doesn’t make the release of hostages a precondition for the ceasefire, it demands both occur in a timely fashion.
White House national security advisor John Kirby suggested the Biden administration was “perplexed” by Netanyahu’s emotional outburst. He highlighted that the U.S. abstained from the vote, allowing the measure to pass, because they wanted a stronger condemnation of Hamas included. They said that the lack of condemnation wasn’t enough to torpedo the entire resolution, which they felt appropriately tied the release of hostages to a ceasefire, without the specific verbiage Israel wanted.
The resolution was approved 14-0 with the U.S.’s abstention. It was welcome news according to Hamas representatives, however, they were focused on an end to the war. Israel wants temporary ceasefires so they can continue to eradicate suspected terrorists affiliated with Hamas or other militias inside Gaza.
Hamas officials have repeatedly stressed a willingness to engage in an exchange of hostages for prisoners or a permanent ceasefire. Israel has been adamant that it has the right to defend itself by engaging in ongoing military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
Support for Israel’s military campaign is rapidly collapsing as Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer suggested Netanyahu isn’t acting in Israel’s best interests, and calling for new elections.
Israel has been hotly anticipating a further operation in the south of Gaza where it has already herded the majority of the territory’s two million residents. Rafah is currently housing hundreds of thousands of refugees who cannot escape. There have already been an estimated thirty-to-forty-thousand deaths among the residents of Gaza, and starvation conditions could trigger mass deaths from famine any day now, according to monitors.
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