14 members of the UN Security Council voted on Monday in favor of the resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the Hamas hostages.
The US chose for the first time to drop its vote completely, something that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes is a “clear retreat”.
War between Israel and Hamas
UN: Yes to an immediate cease-fire in Gaza – the US abstained
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Netanyahu also took a swipe at the US by immediately canceling the delegation’s trip to Washington to discuss Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah.
Applying diplomatic pressure
On paper, the resolution is binding, but it is unclear what it means for the fighting. Anders Persson, political scientist at the Linnaeus University, believes that it will certainly not make any immediate difference.
– I find it very difficult to see that Israel should accept this outright at the moment and that Hamas should unconditionally release its hostage, he says in Aktuellt and continues:
– It is not certain that their side will follow this resolution. But I think that in the long run it may have the effect of pushing the parties towards some kind of truce, or of dampening the war. It is the most significant diplomatic initiative so far in the conflict.
The researcher believes that other countries will push and that we will see “a lot of quiet diplomacy” going forward.
– I also think that it will put pressure on the negotiations we are currently seeing in Doha, Qatar’s capital, says Anders Persson.
More on the US shift and the explanation for it in the video above.