CNN
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Israel vowed to continue its military operations in Gaza and would not engage in “meaningless” negotiations with Hamas, shortly after the UN Security Council overwhelmingly approved a US-backed ceasefire plan aimed at ending the eight-month war.
Israel’s UN representative, Reut Shapir Ben-Naftali, stressed at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday that his country “wants to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”
The senior diplomat said the war would not end until all hostages were returned and Hamas’ capabilities were “dismantled,” and accused Palestinian militants of using “endless negotiations… as a means to buy time.”
Her comments came after 14 of the Security Council’s 15 members voted in favor of the U.S.-drafted resolution on Monday, with only Russia abstaining — the first time the council has approved such a plan to end the war. Israel, which is not a member of the Security Council, did not vote.
A comprehensive three-phase peace agreement, setting out conditions leading to the eventual release of all remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and Israeli troop withdrawal, was first presented by US President Joe Biden on May 31.
The landmark vote means the UN Security Council joins other major international bodies in backing the plan, increasing international pressure on both Hamas and Israel to end the conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a diplomatic visit to the Middle East, said on Tuesday that in his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister “reaffirmed his commitment” to the ongoing proposal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, which is pending a response from Hamas.
Blinken said he had received clear assurances from Netanyahu that he would continue to support the agreement, and that he would accept it if Hamas agreed to its contents.
But Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly said publicly that his country will continue the war in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are released.
Israel and Hamas response
Hamas welcomed the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution and said in a statement that it was ready to negotiate with intermediaries to implement measures such as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the exchange of prisoners, the return of residents and “rejection of any demographic change or reduction in the area of the Gaza Strip.”
The resolution states that Israel has accepted the plan, and U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed that Israel has agreed to the proposal, despite other public statements by Prime Minister Netanyahu suggesting otherwise.
Last month, less than an hour after Biden announced his proposal, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted that Israel would not end the war until Hamas was defeated.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday that the US would ensure Israel complied with its obligations, while Egypt and Qatar would also take similar measures against Hamas.
If Hamas agrees to the deal, “the fighting could stop today,” she said.
However, detailed negotiations to implement its provisions have yet to be agreed upon by both Israel and Hamas.
According to Thomas-Greenfield, the agreement is divided into three phases, including an initial ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners, and ultimately a permanent cessation of hostilities and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, along with the effective distribution of aid and extensive, multi-year reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
The ambassador also said the agreement “rejects any geographical changes” in Gaza and reiterates commitment to a two-state solution.
Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian Authority, which governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, welcomed the agreement as a “step in the right direction” but it was up to Israel to implement the measures.
“We want a ceasefire,” he said, adding that “the responsibility for implementing this resolution lies with the Israeli side.”
“The results will tell us who wants this resolution to come to fruition and who wants to thwart it and continue the genocidal war against our people,” he added.
Speaking with Netanyahu in Jerusalem ahead of the vote, Blinken said the proposal would “open up the possibility for calm along Israel’s northern border and greater integration with regional countries,” according to a State Department statement.
“The United States and other world leaders support your proposal for the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” Blinken told Netanyahu.
After the resolution was adopted, Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and “commended Israel’s readiness to conclude the agreement and asserted that the responsibility for its acceptance rests with Hamas,” according to a summary of the meeting.
Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday following the resignation of Benny Gantz from Israel’s war cabinet on Sunday. Gantz’s resignation was a blow to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is facing increasing pressure from Western allies and the hostages’ families to end the war and return the prisoners.
In his meeting with Blinken, Gantz stressed the importance of “applying maximum pressure” on negotiators to get Hamas to agree to the latest ceasefire plan and return those held in Gaza, according to a statement from Gantz’s office. Gantz also said his party would support a “responsible deal” on the issue from outside the government, the statement said.
But there is confusion about whose proposal this is: Biden has called it an “Israeli proposal,” but within an hour of Biden announcing the plan in May, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would not end the war until Hamas was defeated.
Biden said Hamas has been weakened enough that it can no longer carry out these kinds of attacks and that “it is time to end this war.” But the Israeli prime minister has yet to officially announce whether his country has accepted or rejected the U.S.-drafted proposal.
Eight months into the war, most of Hamas’ most senior leaders remain at large and Israel has yet to achieve its objectives, while Israeli military officials estimated earlier this week that around 120 hostages remain being held, of which around 70 are still alive.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
CNN has not been able to verify the ministry’s figures, which do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their casualty figures. The ministry’s figures do not include the thousands of people believed to be missing or those who have been trapped under rubble in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
