David Knowles |
The United States ended decades of stalwart support for Israel in the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, submitting a draft resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
But the U.N. Security Council failed to adopt the resolution in a Friday morning vote, with Algeria, China and Russia voting against the measure.
The U.S. had negotiated the language of the proposed resolution with the governments of Egypt and Qatar before submitting it to U.N. Security Council for a vote. A version of the resolution that was circulated early Thursday linked the cessation of fighting with the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, the Associated Press reported. The revised version that was voted on Friday, however, makes no such precondition for “the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.”
In February, the U.S. was the only nation on the Security Council to veto a similar resolution, saying that calling for an immediate end to military hostilities would imperil hostage negotiations.
The U.S. move comes at a delicate moment for U.S. and Israeli relations. With more than 30,000 civilian Palestinians estimated killed in Gaza as a result of the Israeli government’s military campaign responding to Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that left nearly 1,200 dead in Israel, the Biden administration and congressional Democrats have recently increased pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau to change his tactics.
Israel has largely ignored those calls, and announced plans to attack Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where it initially directed Palestinians to flee as it conducted operations in the northern part of the territory. The U.S. has strongly opposed the idea and global aid organizations have declared that the residents of Gaza are on the brink of famine.
“A major military operation in Rafah would be a mistake, something we don’t support. And it’s also not necessary to deal with Hamas, which is necessary,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference in Cairo this week.
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