Israel is isolated, foreign minister says
“Everyone can observe” that Israel is increasingly alone following Monday’s UN Security Council vote in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza, Foreign Minister Ian Borg suggested yesterday.
After Israel made it clear it would ignore the Security Council’s demand for a ceasefire, Times of Malta asked Borg if Israel is becoming isolated on the world stage.
“Everyone can observe what you are saying; the fact that the US did not vote against it means they see merit in the resolution,” Borg said.
The Security Council resolution calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza for the remaining two weeks of Ramadan and for all hostages captured by Hamas to be freed.
The United States, a staunch ally of Israel, abstained, paving the way for the resolution to be adopted. The US had previously vetoed similar resolutions.
Borg yesterday called on Israel to respect the resolution. “What’s important isn’t yesterday’s agreement; what’s important is that this is now respected,” Borg said. He said that Malta will work to ensure
that those involved respect the resolution, adding, “that will not be easy”.
“We heard declarations from the Israeli government, both from the prime minister’s office and other parts of the government,” Borg said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, for example, explicitly said Israel will not respect the ceasefire vote. “We will
destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages return home,” Katz said on X.
Malta will chair the UN Security Council during April.
“I plan to hold an open debate in the middle of April to take stock of where we are at but also to discuss how to have two states (Israel and Palestine) live side by side peacefully with
Jerusalem as the capital for both,” he said.
The resolution proposed by Malta and nine other Security Council members was approved on Thursday evening.
The resolution also calls for the truce to lead to a “lasting, sustainable ceasefire”.
Before the vote, Malta’s Ambassador to the UN, Vanessa Frazier said the United States had attempted to replace the words “immediate ceasefire” with “humanitarian pauses”, a request that Malta and the rest of the elected members of the council resisted.
But Frazier added she was “grateful” for the willingness shown by Israel’s closest ally to engage with the elected members of the Security Council during negotiations.
Grateful for the willingness shown by Israel’s closest ally
Israel’s military campaign in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7 has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Half of Gazans are experiencing “catastrophic” hunger, with famine projected to hit the north of the territory by May unless there is urgent intervention, a United Nations-backed food security assessment warned last week.