It also includes the proclamation of UNRWA (the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency) as a pillar of humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip, while a practical “de facto” ban on its activities by Israel looms.

The text had been under discussion for several weeks, Guyanese Ambassador Caroline Rodriguez-Birkett explained today, noting that the wording had been carefully crafted to take into account the wishes of all countries, and although she did not say so, diplomatic sources indicated that the changes were made in order to to make the text acceptable to the United States and thus bypass their veto, which ultimately proved impossible.

US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood justified his country’s opposition by saying that the resolution The ceasefire was not conditional on the immediate release of the 101 hostages. is still held by Hamas because, although it mentions this release, it does not link it to a ceasefire.

And he added that the resolution also does not directly condemn the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, which marked the beginning of the war.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon, anticipating the vote, told reporters that such a resolution “would be nothing less than a betrayal, a betrayal of the 101 hostages still in the hands of Hamas, their families and the simple principles that the U.N. claims to protect.”

Such text “would send a message to terrorists that they can act with impunity, it would send a message to Hamas and other terrorists that they can kill, rape and kidnap innocent people, and the international community will reward them for it.”

EFE