Consejo de Seguridad aprueba un llamamiento al alto el fuego en Gaza

UN Security Council passes resolution calling for Gaza cease re

NACIONES UNIDAS.- El Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU aprobó el pasado lunes, por primera vez y tras cuatro intentos fallidos previos, una resolución en la que se pide inequívocamente un alto el fuego en la guerra de Gaza, que ha causado la muerte a 32.000 personas en menos de seis meses.

La resolución fue aprobada por 14 votos a favor y una abstención, la de Estados Unidos, y al aprobarse suscitó los aplausos de la sala, cosa que raramente sucede.

En ella, el Consejo «pide un alto el fuego inmediato durante el mes de ramadán (que termina el 9 de abril) y que conduzca a un alto el fuego duradero», al tiempo que pide pero no lo vincula «la liberación inmediata e incondicional de todos los rehenes» en manos de Hamás.

The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceaseTre in Gaza, after the US did not veto the measure in a shift from its previous position.

It also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

It is the Trst time the council has called for a ceasetre since the war began in October after several failed attempts.

The move by the US signals growing divergence between it and its ally Israel over Israel's offensive in Gaza.

In an unusually strong rebuke, a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's o6ce said the US had "abandoned" its previous position which had directly linked a ceasetre to a hostage release.

"Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution," it said.

The statement said this harmed efforts to release hostages by giving Hamas hope it could use international pressure on Israel to achieve a ceasetre without freeing the captives.

It also said Mr Netanyahu had decided to cancel meetings between an Israeli delegation and US o6cials in Washington that were scheduled for this week.

Israel's defence minister said Israel would not stop the war in Gaza while hostages were still being held there.

The Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, welcomed the resolution but said it was overdue.

"It has taken six months, over 100,000 Palestinians killed and maimed, two million displaced, and famine, for this council to Tnally demand an immediate ceasetre," Mr Mansour said.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which governs Gaza and which triggered the war with an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October, also welcomed the resolution. It said it was ready "to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides".

The group has made any hostage release conditional on the release by Israel of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

In the Security Council vote on Monday, the US abstained, while the remaining 14 members voted in favour.

The US had previously blocked resolutions calling for a ceasetre, saying such a move would be wrong while delicate negotiations for a truce and hostage releases were continuing between Israel and Hamas.

But on Thursday it tabled its own draft, which for the Trst time called for a ceasetre, marking a hardening of its stance towards Israel.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US' decision to let the resolution pass did not mean a "shift in our policy". He said the US backed a ceaseTre but did not vote in favour of the resolution because the text did not condemn Hamas.

Speaking at a press brietng after the resolution was passed, Mr Kirby said: "We have been very clear, we have been very consistent in our support for a ceasetre as part of a hostage deal. That's how the hostage deal is structured, and the resolution acknowledges the ongoing talks."

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the resolution "must be implemented" to secure a ceasetre and the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages".

Mark Lyall-grant, who was the UK ambassador to the UN from 2009 to 2015, told BBC Radio's 4 PM programme that the resolution meant Israel was now "under an obligation, essentially, to stop its military campaign for the next 15 days" - the duration of the remainder of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which the text stipulated for the ceasetre.

He added that the text was legally binding on Israel but not on Hamas, as the Palestinian group is not a state.

The US had previously been accused of using its power of veto to shield Israel at the UN.