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HomeNewsAngry Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire, Cancels Visit To US For Failing To...

Angry Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire, Cancels Visit To US For Failing To Veto

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Tensions between the United States and Israel were exposed on Monday when Washington stood aside and allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The US decision to abstain on the vote prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled trip to the US by two of his top advisers.

Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, a member of the war cabinet and close adviser to Netanyahu, had been scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday night to discuss the offensive and US alternatives.

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In an unusually strong rebuke, a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the US had “abandoned” its previous position which had directly linked a ceasefire to a hostage release.

“Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution,” it said.

The statement said this harmed efforts to release hostages by giving Hamas hope it could use international pressure on Israel to achieve a ceasefire without freeing the captives.

Israel’s defence minister said Israel would not stop the war in Gaza while hostages were still being held there.

National Security spokesman John Kirby offered a fuller response to Netanyahu’s decision to cancel the delegation, saying the US was disappointed by the decision to cancel the trip.

“We’re very disappointed that they will not be coming to Washington, DC, to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah,” he said.

The US had previously vetoed similar resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

Its position evolved last week when on Friday, it put forward a ceasefire resolution tied to the release of hostages.

That resolution fell when it was vetoed by Russia and China. The US abstention on Monday’s vote allowed the latest resolution to pass, when the other 14 members of the 15-strong council voted yes.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that while the latest resolution included edits requested by the US, Washington could not vote yes because it “did not agree with everything.”

The resolution, put forward by the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and “the urgent need to expand the flow” of aid into Gaza.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said a failure to implement the resolution would be “unforgivable.”

“The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable,” Guterres wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian authority welcomed the resolution, while Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan criticized the Security Council for passing a measure that called for a ceasefire “without conditioning it on the release of the hostages.

“It undermines the efforts to secure their release.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X his country would not abide by the resolution.

“The state of Israel will not cease fire,” Katz said. “We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages returns home.”

The UN vote on Monday came as tensions grow over a looming Israeli military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah. The US has been calling on Israel to explain how it will protect the 1.4 million Palestinians seeking refuge there ahead of the expected incursion, which the US said “would be a mistake.”

INFORMATION FROM CNN AND BBC CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT

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