New York, 26 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The United States is "kind of perplexed" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction to the US decision not to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire on Monday.

Netanyahu cancelled a scheduled Israeli delegation's trip to Washington over the decision. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the move "a bit surprising and unfortunate."

But Miller said that the US still expects to present Israeli officials with alternatives to a planned military attack against the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Almost six months into the Gaza war, the UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution for the first time calling for an "immediate ceasefire" for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan began on March 10 and will end around April 9.

The most powerful body of the United Nations expressed "deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip."

It is also demanding the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" held by the militant Palestinian Hamas organization.

The US, which holds veto power, abstained from the vote on Monday, thereby enabling the resolution to be adopted. The 14 other members of the committee voted in favour.

The resolution, which is binding under international law, further increases international pressure on the parties to the conflict, Israel and Hamas.

However, it is unclear to what extent the resolution will have any influence on decisions made by the Netanyahu government or Hamas regarding the course of the war.

Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and national security advisor, Zachi Hanegbi, were supposed to fly to the US on Monday to meet with high-ranking US government officials.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday in Washington.

During the meeting, Blinken reiterated Washington's rejection of Israel's planned military offensive in Rafah, Miller said.

"The Secretary underscored that alternatives exist to a major ground invasion that would both better ensure Israel's security and protect Palestinian civilians," Miller said in a statement following the meeting.

"Secretary Blinken also discussed the need to immediately surge and sustain additional humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza," he added.

Other Israeli allies have also warned against an attack on Rafah, but Netanyahu has so far pledged to push forward with the offensive regardless of international condemnation.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby stressed that "Israel is still a close ally and a friend" despite some disagreements on policy. But Kirby said he was also "kind of perplexed" by Netanyahu's reaction and stressed that the US decision to abstain from the vote was consistent with past policy.

"We've been very consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal," Kirby said.

According to estimates, 1.5 million of Gaza's 2.2 million inhabitants have sought refuge from the fighting in Rafah, with many of them living in temporary shelters.

Previous efforts to have the UN Security Council call for a ceasefire had been vetoed by the US, Israel's closest and most important ally.

Due to the rising number of civilian casualties and the threat of famine in parts of the coastal strip, the US has recently stepped up the pressure on Israel.

On Friday, Washington made a U-turn and for the first time called for "an immediate and lasting ceasefire" in the Gaza war in a resolution. However, Russia and China vetoed that draft.

The concise resolution text that has now been adopted focuses on the demand for "an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting and sustainable ceasefire."

Aid supplies for the civilian population must also be expanded.
The resolution was introduced by non-permanent members of the UN body.

It called for and "urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance ... in line with international humanitarian law."

UN Secretary General António Guterres demanded the swift implementation of the resolution.

"The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," Guterres wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable."

More than 32,200 Palestinians have now been killed and more than 74,500 others injured by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war on October 7, when Hamas fighters and other militants carried out the worst massacre in Israel's history, killing some 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others.

Photo: EPA