UN Security Council Votes for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

The United Nations Security Council voted almost unanimously on Monday to back the United States’ ceasefire plan.

• 14 out of 15 members voted for the resolution.
• Russia abstained.

This is the fourth resolution relating to the Israel-Hamas war that the Security Council has passed.

Today we voted for peace. Hamas can now see that the international community is united. United behind a deal that will save lives and help Palestinian civilians in Gaza start to rebuild and heal. United behind a deal that will reunite hostages with their families after eight months in captivity. United behind a deal that will lead to a more secure Israel and unlock the possibility of more progress, including calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
—Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the UN

Israel’s response: Israel has not formally accepted the ceasefire, although the U.S. says it has indicated it will.

Last week, Israel spoke out against the resolution put forward by the UN Security Council, but it has avoided making further direct comments on it.

Israel’s goals have been very clear: To bring all our hostages home and to dismantle Hamas’s capabilities. Israel is committed to these goals—to free all the hostages, destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.
—Reut Shafir Ben Naftali, Israeli diplomat

Hamas’s response: Hamas also has not formally accepted the ceasefire plan, but it claims to welcome the idea.

The movement would like to emphasize its readiness to cooperate with the mediators to enter into indirect negotiations on the implementation of these principles that are in line with the demands of our people and our resistance. We also affirm the continuation of our endeavor and struggle … to achieve [our] national rights, foremost of which is defeating the occupation and establishing an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
—Hamas statement

No helper for Israel: Even though Hamas has shown no remorse for the atrocities it committed on Oct. 7, 2023, members of the Security Council are calling for the “immediate implementation” of the ceasefire, which would leave Hamas as the automatic victor. It simultaneously denies Israel the right to defend itself against a hostile neighbor.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has called the decaying relationship between the U.S. and Israel “a deadly weakness.” In the July 2021 Trumpet issue he wrote:

In a world this hostile, Britain, America and the Jewish nation of Israel need to stick together and turn toward God. But they are splitting from God and from each other. There will be no helper for Israel—not even from other modern Israelite nations.

Learn more: Read “Israel: A Brother Betrayed.”