INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United Nations Security Council on Monday backed a proposal outlined by President Joe Biden for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in
the Gaza Strip and urged the Palestinian militants to accept the deal aimed at ending the eight-month-long war, Reuters reported.Hamas
welcomed the adoption of the U.S.-drafted resolution and said in a statement that it is ready to cooperate with mediators over implementing
the principles of the plan &that are consistent with the demands of our people and resistance.&Russia abstained from the U.N
vote, while the remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution supporting a three-phase ceasefire plan laid out by
Biden on May 31 that he described as an Israeli initiative.&Today we voted for peace,& U.S
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote.The resolution welcomes the new ceasefire proposal, states that Israel has accepted
it, calls on Hamas to agree to it and &urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.&Algeria, the
only Arab member of the council, supported the resolution because &we believe it can represent a step forward toward an immediate and
lasting ceasefire,& Algeria&s U.N
Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the council.&It offers a glimmer of hope to the Palestinians,& he said
&It&s time to halt the killing.&The resolution also goes into detail about the proposal, and spells out that &if the negotiations take
longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue.&ISRAEL&S GOALSHowever, it did not
contain enough detail for Moscow
Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia asked what Israel had specifically agreed to and said the Security Council should not be signing up to
agreements with &vague parameters.&&We did not wish to block the resolution simply because it, as much as we understand, is supported by the
Arab world,& Nebenzia told the council.Israel&s U.N
Ambassador Gilad Erdan was present for the vote, but did not address the council
Instead, senior Israeli U.N
diplomat Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly told the body that Israel&s goals in Gaza had always been clear, read the report.&Israel is committed to
these goals & to free all the hostages, to destroy Hamas& military and governing capabilities and to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat
to Israel in the future,& she said
&It is Hamas that is preventing this war from ending
Hamas and Hamas alone.&The council in March demanded for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.For
months, negotiators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a ceasefire
Hamas says it wants a permanent end to the war in the Gaza Strip and Israeli withdrawal from the enclave of 2.3 million people.Israel is
retaliating against Hamas, which rules Gaza, over an Oct
7 attack by its militants, Reuters reported.More than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage by Hamas on Oct
7, according to Israeli tallies
More than 100 hostages are believed to remain captive in Gaza.Israel launched an air, ground and sea assault on the Palestinian territory,
killing more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.The post UN Security Council backs Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan
first appeared on Ariana News.
