U.N. Adopts U.S.-Backed Ceasefire Plan in Israel-Hamas War

Updated June 11, 2024

• The U.N. Security Council adopted a ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip on Monday, signifying the desire to bring the war to an end amongst global leaders. Russia was the only nation that abstained from the vote, which came in at 14-0. 
• U.S. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Security Council members that Israel had agreed to the deal and Hamas is urged "to do the same." She said:

"Hamas can now see that the international community is united, united behind a deal that will save lives and help Palestinian civilians in Gaza start to rebuild and heal."

• Despite Thomas-Greenfield's claim, Israel has resisted publicly announcing their position. Israel's U.N. representative, Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, said that Israel's goals in the war have not changed, and it will continue to use its military operations to free hostages. 
• Hamas said it welcomes elements of the ceasefire resolution but does not agree with and will not endorse the whole plan.

Updated Dec. 22, 2023, 3:30 p.m. EST

• After days of negotiations, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling for increased aid in the Gaza Strip. The council's approved measure asks for "urgent steps" to allow the expansion of aid as the people of Gaza face a worsening humanitarian crisis from Israel's attack. 
• The final vote was 13-0, with the U.S. and Russia abstaining. The U.S. did, however, agree not to veto the resolution. The resolution stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, but called for the creation of "conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities."
• Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh of the U.A.E. said:

"We know this is not a perfect text. We know only a cease-fire will end this suffering. Often in diplomacy, the challenge is meeting the moment in the world we live in, not in the world that we want."

Updated Dec. 13, 2023, 9:30 a.m. EST

• The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution to demand a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. This latest resolution is non-binding but carries significant weight in international politics.
• The U.S. was one of ten nations to oppose the resolution. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the nation acknowledges that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, but that it was Hamas that broke an earlier deal that allowed for a pause in fighting. The U.S. is asking the General Assembly to denounce Hamas and their actions. 

Updated Dec. 11, 2023, 10:00 a.m. EST

• As global calls for another halt in the fighting grow, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution backed by almost all other Security Council members demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. 
• The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1, with the UK abstaining. All other members and dozens of other nations voted for a ceasefire. 
• In an effort to press the Biden administration to vote in favor of a ceasefire, foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey all went to Washington on Friday. Their efforts were unsuccessful. 
• U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called the resolution "imbalanced," criticizing the council for not condemning Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. He claimed halting Israel's attack on Gaza would allow Hamas to continue to rule the Strip. 
• Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, reacted to the U.S.'s veto, saying:

"Today's failure to support the call for a humanitarian cease-fire is an endorsement of further killing of Palestinians, further violations of international law, further commitment of war crimes. Israel is basically doing whatever it wants, in defiance even of its allies, creating a horrific situation in Gaza, and then wants us to come in and clean the mess. We will not do that."

Updated Nov. 13, 2023, 3:00 p.m. EST

• On Saturday, over 300,000 protesters marched in London, calling for a ceasefire. Event organizers put the number of attendees at 800,000. It was the country’s largest protest since the Israel-Hamas war began. The protest lasted over seven hours and featured speeches and a moment of silence for the children killed in Israeli airstrikes.
• Thousands of protesters filled Sydney’s Hyde Park on Sunday, calling for a ceasefire. This is the fifth weekend in a row that Pro-Palestinian protests have convened. Pro-Israel groups held a separate event in the city demanding the release of the hostages.

Updated Nov. 6, 2023, 4:40 p.m. EST

• Tens of thousands of protestors in Washington, D.C., called on Biden to support a ceasefire during a march on Saturday. Protestors chanted:

“Biden, Biden, you can’t hide; we charge you with genocide.”

• The march drew supporters from cities across the country, with many bus routes to the capital sold out in advance of the event. 
• Nihad Awad, National Director at the Council on American–Islamic Relations, said:

“The language that President Biden and his party understands is the language of votes in the 2023 elections, and our message is: no ceasefire, no votes.”

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to protect civilian life in Gaza, but said a ceasefire would enable Hamas to regroup and gain an advantage. Blinken has, however, been pushing for a humanitarian pause to the fighting.   
• The heads of U.N. humanitarian agencies have issued a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. The U.N. also confirmed that it had lost 88 aid workers, the highest number ever recorded in a single conflict.

Updated Nov. 2, 2023, 12:00 p.m. EST

• U.S. President Joe Biden called for a "pause" in the Israel-Gaza war.
• During a campaign speech in Minneapolis, a demonstrator heckled Biden, urging him to call for a ceasefire. Biden replied:

"I think we need a pause."

• Biden said a pause would "give time to get the prisoners out." White House officials later explained he meant both getting hostages held by Hamas out, and getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.
• After the heckler was escorted out, Biden said the war was a "complicated" matter and recognized the emotion around it. He said:

"This is incredibly complicated for the Israelis. It's incredibly complicated for the Muslim world as well... I supported a two-state solution; I have from the very beginning."

What's the story?

• As the Israel-Gaza war enters its third week, global concern about escalating violence has led many observers, lawmakers, and politicians to call for a ceasefire.

Calls for a ceasefire

• Thirteen progressive Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Cori Bush (Mo.), have brought a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, urging Biden to facilitate a rapid de-escalation of hostilities. Rep. Tlaib said:

“We all know collective punishment of millions of Palestinians is a war crime. The answer to war crimes can never be answered with more war crimes.”

• Most Democrats have sided with the Biden Administration in their support of Israel. A leaked State Department memo warned diplomats against using phrases like “ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed,” and “de-escalation” because they defy current U.S. policy in Israel. 
• Rep. Bush said:

“We’ve been clear on the need for de-escalation and a ceasefire since the attacks. Leadership and the White House know exactly where we stand: there is no military solution to this conflict.”

• U.N. chief António Guterres has called for a ceasefire to relieve the “epic human suffering” in the Gaza Strip. A ceasefire would provide enough time to release the hostages held in the strip and to allow aid to enter the enclave, according to Guterres. Volker Turk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, has also called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
• Save the Children has called for an immediate ceasefire to “prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.”
• The EU Parliament called for a ceasefire in a resolution dated Oct. 19. However, the resolution is merely symbolic as the EU Parliament has no formal role in establishing foreign policy for the bloc.

Global protests

• Protests in favor of a ceasefire have erupted worldwide. Over 100,000 people turned up to a London protest, and thousands attended protests in Berlin, Marseille, and Rome over the weekend. Smaller protests in Sarajevo and Geneva drew hundreds of protesters.
• On Wednesday, thousands of Jewish-American peace activists marched in Washington, D.C,. calling for an immediate ceasefire. Hundreds of protesters staged a sit-in on Capitol Hill. The action was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, and several protesters wore shirts emblazoned with the quote, "Not in our name."
• IfNotNow's political director Eva Borgwardt said:

“As Jewish people whose ancestors went through the Holocaust, when we hear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant use words like ‘the children of darkness’ and ‘human animals’ to describe Palestinians, we feel the resonances of that in our bones.

As Jewish Americans, we are here through our grief to tell Biden and Congress that our grief is not their weapon and our pain is not their excuse to enable a government that has clearly genocidal intent, and they must call for a ceasefire now."

White House response

• The White House has argued that an immediate ceasefire would help Hamas. Biden said:

"We should have those hostages released and then we can talk."

• State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said:

"Any ceasefire would give Hamas the ability to rest, to refit, and to get ready to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel. You can understand perfectly clearly why that’s an intolerable situation for Israel, as it would be an intolerable situation for any country that has suffered such a brutal terrorist attack."

• National security spokesperson John Kirby said Israel still had “work to do to go after Hamas leadership” and hostage negotiations before a ceasefire could be considered.

Do you support a ceasefire?

-Emma Kansiz