Without changing course, the United States allows the UN to adopt a resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire”.

After five and a half months of deadlock, the United Nations (UN) Security Council finally adopted a resolution “Immediate Ceasefire” In Gaza, Monday 25 March.

This text applies only to the month of Ramadan, which has already begun two weeks ago. Even as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres predicts, its translation on the ground is highly uncertain. “unforgivable” to ignore it. The resolution, however, represents the first concrete gesture by the Biden administration to gain some decisive distance from Israeli military action. More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza, mostly civilians.

The vote on the resolution, introduced by ten non-permanent members of the Security Council and supported by four permanent members, was made possible by the absence of the United States. This country has not joined others in its lack of clear condemnation of Hamas. But the result is the same: Israel is exposed and alone. The text eschews a principle that Washington had adhered to, a condition between the release of the 130 hostages remaining in the hands of the Palestinian movement and a temporary ceasefire, while calling for both of its wishes.

The unprecedented move, the significance of which the White House has tried to play down, immediately sparked an open crisis between Israel and its only major backer in the war. Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to cancel a trip to Washington by his close aides, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Zachary Hanegbi. All he had was a political road map, which consisted of politely listening to an American ally about options for a large-scale ground operation in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

“The United States today abandoned its policy at the UN, Mr Netanyahu’s office responded in a press release on Monday. (…) The resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to agree to a cease-fire without releasing our hostages, thereby undermining both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages. » Without using the jargon of betrayal, the Prime Minister suggested that his country was being abandoned. A way to position itself as the only force against American pressure.

Washington’s diplomatic inconsistencies

For his part, in Washington, the spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, believed that the Israeli leader “To create the impression of deviation when this is not necessary”. Counsel insisted on character “Non-Binding” Resolution, which does not “There is no impact on Israel and (her) Ability to fight Hamas.

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