Extract from ABC News
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages after the United States abstained from the vote.
The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution, which was proposed by the 10 elected members of the body.
Algeria's UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the council after the vote that the Palestinian people had "suffered greatly".
"This bloodbath has continued for far too long. It is our obligation to put an end to this bloodbath, before it is too late," Mr Bendjama said.
Washington had been averse to the word ceasefire earlier in the nearly six-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.
It had used its veto power to shield its ally as it retaliated against Hamas for an October 7 attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people.
But amid growing global pressure for a truce in the war that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, the US abstained from the vote on Monday to allow the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks.
Netanyahu pulls delegation on Rafah talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the US's decision to abstain he would not send a delegation as planned to Washington.
A statement from Mr Netanyahu's office said that Washington's failure to veto the proposal was a "clear retreat" from its previous position, and would hurt war efforts against Hamas in Gaza as well as efforts to release over 130 hostages.
"In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave," his office said.
The high-level delegation was due to travel to Washington to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
White House spokesman John Kirby said it was disappointing.
"We're very disappointed that they won't be coming to Washington, D.C. to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah," Mr Kirby said.
He said senior US officials would still meet for separate talks with Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — who is currently in Washington — on issues including hostages, humanitarian aid and protecting civilians in Rafah.
He stressed US policy had not changed, despite the decision to abstain from the vote and that US officials could continue to bring up Washington's concerns with Israeli policies in Gaza as part of ongoing discussions between the two governments.
"Nothing has changed about our view that a major ground offensive in Rafah would be a major mistake," he said.
Israel cannot stop war with hostages in Gaza
The resolution also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Israel says Hamas took 253 hostages during its October 7 attack.
Israel's defence minister said ahead of meetings in the White House on Monday that Israel could not stop its war on Hamas while there were still hostages in Gaza.
A statement from Mr Gallant's office said the minister would stress in his meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan the importance of destroying Hamas and returning the hostages.
"We will operate against Hamas everywhere — including in places where we have not yet been," Mr Gallant said, adding that "we have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza".
He also said that, "the lack of a decisive victory in Gaza may bring us closer to a war in the north" where Israeli forces have been exchanging fire with Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon since October.
US abstained because text did not condemn Hamas
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said America fully supported "some of the critical objectives in this nonbinding resolution", but added that Washington did not agree with everything in the text, which also did not condemn Hamas.
"We believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages," she told the council after the vote.
"A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage and so we must put pressure on Hamas to do just that."
Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said it was Hamas that started the war.
"The resolution just voted upon makes it seem as if the war started by itself ... Israel did not start this war, nor did Israel want this war," Mr Erdan said.
The resolution also "emphasises the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel on Monday to lift all obstacles to aid into Gaza and allow convoys of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into the north of the coastal enclave.
Famine is imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July, according to a UN-backed report by a global authority on food security released last week.
An emotional Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the Security Council after the vote on Monday that it "must be a turning point".
"This must lead to saving lives on the ground," he said.
The UN has vetoed three draft council resolutions on the war in Gaza. It has also previously abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting.
Russia and China have also vetoed two US drafted resolutions on the conflict — in October and on Friday.
Reuters/ABC
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