On Friday, the United Nations Security Council ratified a resolution mandating the immediate release of detainees held by Hamas and increasing the pace of humanitarian aid delivery to the Gaza Strip.
The resolution was not endorsed by the U.S. government, but it was not blocked either, following a week of intensive diplomacy that resulted in wording changes.
The United States and Russia abstained from voting on the resolution, while thirteen nations supported it. Since the U.S.-requested modifications rendered the text “toothless,” Russia had criticized it.
The omission of a provision that would have denounced “all indiscriminate attacks against civilians” was specifically the subject of Russia’s criticism.
A proposed amendment by Russia to alter the text of the resolution was vetoed by the United States.
With the support of the United States, Israel has resisted external pressures to cease hostilities during its military campaign against Hamas, which aims to eliminate the U.S.-designated terrorist organization in the wake of its unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel (during which 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken captive). Over a hundred detainees are still in the custody of Hamas.
Notwithstanding his abstention from the vote, the U.S. ambassador lauded the council’s adoption of the resolution, highlighting the gravity of the humanitarian crisis confronting the Palestinians in Gaza, as a pivotal development.
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