A US-led resolution endorsing a ceasefire plan aimed at ending the eight-month war in Gaza was adopted by the UN Security Council on Monday, with 14 of the 15 members voting in favour and Russia abstaining.
It was the 11th time the council had voted on a draft resolution relating to the war in Gaza. Only three have been adopted.
Resolution 2735 welcomes a three-phase ceasefire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden on May 31, which Washington said Israeli authorities have accepted, and calls on Hamas to accept it as well. It urges both sides “to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
After it was adopted, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the council has sent “a clear message to Hamas: accept the ceasefire deal on the table.” If it does so, “the fighting would stop today,” she added.
Hamas can now see the international community is united behind a deal that will save lives, help Gazans “to rebuild and heal” and reunite Israeli hostages with their families, she said.
The deal will also lead to “a more secure Israel and unlock the possibility of more progress, including calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon,” Thomas-Greenfield continued.
“We cannot forget the Israelis displaced from their homes in northern Israel, under threat from Hezbollah. These attacks from terrorist groups backed by Iran must stop. They have to stop.”
She said Palestinians have endured “sheer hell in this war started by Hamas. There’s an opportunity to chart a different course; Hamas must take it.”
Phase one of the plan, as outlined by the resolution, requires “an immediate, full and complete ceasefire, with the release of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed, (and) the exchange of Palestinian prisoners.”
Meanwhile, Hamas has accepted a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told media on Tuesday, adding that it was up to Washington to ensure that Israel abides by it.
“Hamas accepts the UN security council resolution in regard to the ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli troops and swap of hostages for detainees held by Israel,” he said.
“The US administration is facing a real test to carry out its commitments in compelling the occupation to immediately end the war in an implementation of the UN Security Council resolution,” Abu Zuhri said.
