The United Nations Security Council has voted 14-0 in favor of a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip for the rest of Ramadan.
“The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, after the United States withheld its veto and abstained from the vote.
It was the first time that the Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza since the start of the war in October.
Resolution 2728 is understood to be non-binding and is not expected to have an immediate impact on the ongoing fighting in Gaza, as has been the case with previous Security Council resolutions that have been adopted in other conflicts that were subsequently ignored.
Israel is not expected to abide by the resolution’s call for an immediate ceasefire and Hamas is not expected to follow the demand for an immediate and unconditional release of the 134 hostages, though only the former is a party to the UN charter and failure to abide by its resolutions could lead to calls for sanctions. But with the U.S. stressing that the resolution is not binding, it is highly unlikely that Washington would allow the council to sanction Israel for failing to abide by the measure.
However, it does mark a symbolic blow to Israel’s international standing nearly six months since Hamas’s October 7th onslaught and appeared to highlight a new low in ties between the U.S. and Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing afterward that he was canceling plans to send a delegation to Washington at the administration’s request to discuss a potential ground invasion in Rafah.
The resolution passed by the UN Security Council ‘acknowledge[s]’ the ongoing efforts to secure a hostage deal but does not directly link those talks to the Gaza ceasefire it is demanding.
A U.S. resolution vetoed by Russia and China on Friday more directly tied the demand for a Gaza ceasefire to the talks brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
The U.S. had previously vetoed resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire, which contained no mention or linkage to the hostage talks”. -Jacob Magid, Times of Israel
Considering that Israel is already in violation of multiple United Nations resolutions, it seems that the only external pressure that can force an Israeli ceasefire is the physical resistance of Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.