Israel cancels Washington visit after US allows UN Gaza ceasefire resolution to pass

 Tensions between the US and Israel came to a head on Monday when Washington took a different stance and allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The US decision to abstain from voting prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled event. Two Israeli officials said two of their top advisers traveled to the US.

America had earlier also vetoed similar resolutions demanding a ceasefire. Its position evolved last week when on Friday it presented a ceasefire proposal involving the release of hostages.

That proposal fell when Russia and China vetoed it. The US absence from Monday's vote allowed the latest resolution to pass, when the other 14 members of the 15-strong council voted yes. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the latest proposal included edits requested by the US. , Washington could not vote yes because he "did not agree with everything."

"If Hamas had been willing to release the hostages, a ceasefire could have been reached almost months ago," the ambassador said. He demanded from member states and the UNSC that Hamas "accept the agreement on the table."

"Any ceasefire must be accompanied by the release of all hostages,"

They said. The resolution introduced by the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council calls for 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. Gaza: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said failure to implement the resolution would be "inexcusable".

“The Security Council has approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This resolution should be implemented. Failure would be inexcusable,” Guterres wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan criticized the Security Council for passing a resolution calling for a ceasefire "without making it conditional on the release of hostages".

“This undermines efforts to secure their release,” he said at the United Nations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told X that his country would not abide by the resolution.

"The Israeli state will not stop shooting," Katz said. "We will destroy Hamas and keep fighting until the last of the hostages return home."

The Biden administration chose to abstain rather than veto a UN Security Council resolution over the weekend, when they were able to work on changing parts of the resolution's text, according to a senior administration official.

Another source familiar with the matter said the US had planned to veto, but intensive diplomatic efforts to find a compromise left them in a position to veto.

The text initially called for a permanent ceasefire and did not mention negotiations to release the hostages, the official said, and the US was able to pressure the text to be changed so that it referred to a permanent ceasefire. and include language regarding ongoing efforts to release the hostages. For those reasons, the US believed the proposal was consistent with US policy, the official said, echoing that sentiment

   US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Because the final text does not contain the key language we consider necessary, particularly the condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it. “This failure to condemn Hamas is especially difficult to understand in the coming days, when the world has once again witnessed horrific acts committed by terrorist groups,” Blinken said in a statement.

Monday's UN vote comes as tensions rise over a possible Israeli military operation in Gaza's southern city of Rafah. The US is asking Israel to explain how it will protect the 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there ahead of the expected incursion, which the US said "would be a mistake." Riyad Mansour, the UN ambassador to the Palestinian territories, said the decision was a vote "for the victory of life".

It took six months for the UNSC to demand an immediate ceasefire, Riyadh said, and "more than 100,000 people have been killed and maimed, two million displaced, and famine has led this Council to demand an immediate ceasefire."

A trip canceled Israel's national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and war cabinet member and close adviser to Netanyahu Ron Dermer were scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday night to discuss the offensive and U.S. options, but the trip was canceled after the vote. . ,

National security spokesman John Kirby gave a full response to Netanyahu's decision to cancel the delegation, saying that the US is disappointed by the decision to cancel the trip.

"We are very disappointed that they are not coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a full conversation with them about viable options for going on the ground in Rafah," he said.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the cancellation "surprising and unfortunate."

A US official told CNN that canceling the trip was an overreaction that likely reflected Netanyahu's own domestic political concerns. Netanyahu did not communicate directly with Biden on the decision, the official said, and the president has no plans to call Netanyahu to discuss the matter.

Separately, Israel agreed to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage agreement, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravid's reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha. The release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza could reportedly be in exchange for the release of about 700 Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences for killing Israeli civilians.

However, Hamas said that other issues remain unresolved besides the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told CNN that "Israeli-American media" are pressuring negotiations.

"For us the negotiations are not just focused on the prisoner exchange deal," he said.

"Israel has not agreed to any of (Hamas's) requests regarding a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forces from the Gaza Strip, even in phases, and the return of all displaced people to their homes," Naim said.