Muted international responses follow security council ceasefire resolution on Gaza

Responses from Israel, the United States and even mediators Egypt and Qatar to yesterday’s United Nations Security Council resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza reflected little political will to take action toward an immediate ceasefire.

The resolution is the security council’s first of its kind for Gaza and comes five months after Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip. Earlier drafts were blocked by the US using its veto powers.

Monday’s decision garnered 14 votes in favor, with the US abstaining, and should be binding to all UN member states, as is the case with all UNSC decisions. 

Hamas was quick to welcome the decision, stressing the necessity of reaching a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Occupation military from the Gaza Strip and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.

But Israeli officials instead doubled down on calls to continue the war. Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz stressed on Tuesday that Israel will now need to “prove”  its its commitment to releasing the hostages and taking down Hamas. “There was a message, a no-good message, to anyone on Hamas’s side that the US does not support Israel as much, and so we need to prove, militarily, that we will stand by our goals,” he said.  

Meanwhile Defense Minister Yaov Gallant insisted that the Occupation military “will act against Hamas everywhere, even in areas where we have not been yet,” and that the IDF’s mission will be complete once an alternative to Hamas is created.

“We have no moral right to stop the war in Gaza until we return all the hostages to their homes,” he added, saying that if a “clear and absolute victory” is not reached, the war could expand further. 

Although Israel and Hamas have been taking part in ceasefire negotiations mediated by Egypt and Qatar for weeks, the state of negotiations  appeared unmoved by Monday’s resolution. Qatar said on Tuesday the resolution had no effect so far on the progress of talks to reach a ceasefire deal and the release of Israeli priosners  held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Israel’s release of detained Palestinia.

“We haven't seen any immediate effect on the talks, they are ongoing as they were before,” said the Qatari Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson during a press conference in Doha.

Cairo also welcomed the Monday decision as an important first step toward ending the bloodshed, reducing casualties and providing the opportunity for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. It also noted that it comes following “five months of military operations and the inability of the UNSC to reach a resolution demanding a permanent ceasefire,” criticizing the decision as “unbalanced” due to the limited framework and obligations it commits to.

After drawing criticism from Israel for not shooting down the ceasefire resolution, US representative to the council Linda Thomas  described  the resolution as “non-binding” yesterday, and said that a ceasefire will not happen without the “release of hostages.” 

White House National Security Council John Kirby echoed Thomas and  said  in a Monday afternoon White House briefing that there is “no impact at all on Israel and Israel's ability to continue to go after Hamas.”

Thomas added that the US abstained from voting on the resolution because it did not agree to everything it stated, as it  ignored the  country's request to add a condemnation of Hamas to the text. 

The US has vetoed every resolution demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza since the start of the Israeli aggression on October 7.

Under the UN charter, all UN member states are obligated to comply with Security Council decisions.

Following the vote, UN Secretary General António Guterres wrote on X that the “resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable.”