In an effort to put an end to the eight-month conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the UN Security Council adopted its first resolution supporting a cease-fire agreement on Monday.
The resolution presented by the US applauds President Joe Biden’s proposed cease-fire, which the US claims Israel has accepted. It demands that the radical Palestinian organization Hamas, which at first declared that it saw the idea “positively,” agree to the three-phase plan.
In order to “fully implement its terms without delay and without condition,” Israel and Hamas are urged.
Israel and Hamas are urged by the resolution, which was passed with a resounding majority of 14 out of 15 Security Council members voting in favor with Russia abstaining, “to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
The US wants all 15 members of the Security Council to back what it called “the best, most realistic opportunity to bring at least a temporary halt to this war,” US deputy envoy Robert Wood told reporters earlier on Monday.
Though it is still unclear if Israel and Hamas would accept the three-phase cease-fire agreement, the resolution’s overwhelming backing in the UN’s most influential body increases pressure on both sides to do so.
In phase one, humanitarian aid must also be safely distributed “at scale throughout the Gaza Strip,” according to Biden, meaning that 600 trucks carrying supplies will drive into Gaza each day.