Israel Cancels Washington Meeting After UN Gaza Ceasefire Vote

Israel has cancelled a meeting in Washington after the US declined to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, BBC reports.

The resolution, which also called for the release of all hostages, followed several failed attempts at similar measures since the 7 October attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the US of having “abandoned” its previous policy.

Meanwhile intense fighting rages between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The UN Security Council’s first resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire came after calls for urgent action to avert a famine in Gaza.

Since the start of the conflict, the US has used its veto power to block three Security Council resolutions calling for pauses in the fighting or a ceasefire. Another two have been vetoed by both Russia and China.

On Monday, the US abstained on a resolution that called for an “immediate” ceasefire for the rest of the month of Ramadan – two weeks – and the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”.

The 14 other members of the council, including the UK, voted in favour, meaning the resolution passed.

While Washington has taken an increasingly tougher stance on Israel it insisted its abstention did not mark a shift in policy.

But Mr Netanyahu said the UN resolution did not make the demand for a ceasefire conditional on the release of the hostages, as the US and Israel had both argued it should.

Israel believes Hamas and its allies are still holding about 130 hostages in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

“Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

It added that, “in light of the change in the US position”, a visit by an Israeli delegation to the US this week would not go ahead.

Israeli and US officials had been due to meet to discuss Israel’s planned offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter, having fled the fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said publicly that a ground operation in Rafah risks killing more civilians and is “not the way” to defeat Hamas.

On the ground there was no indication of a let up in hostilities, as Israeli warplanes continued to bomb Rafah.

Fierce gun battles also raged around hospitals in nearby Khan Younis and Gaza City. Rocket warning sirens also sounded in Israeli border towns.

Responding to Mr Netanyahu’s decision to cancel the Israeli delegation’s visit to Washington, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was “disappointing” but reiterated the US view that “a major ground offensive in Rafah would be a major mistake”.

Mr Kirby said that scheduled meetings between Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan would go ahead as planned.