UN Security Council passes Gaza resolution as US abstains

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution Friday scaling up the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip and calling for the urgent release of hostages held by Hamas.

The U.S. government did not vote in favor of the resolution, but also did not block it, after an intense week of diplomacy that led to changes to its wording.

“Colleagues, today this council made clear that addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza needs to remain at the forefront of our agenda,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said following the vote.

Thirteen countries voted in favor of the resolution, while the U.S. and Russia abstained. Russia had criticized the text as being “toothless” due to the changes that were demanded by the U.S.

In particular, Russia criticized the removal of a passage that would have condemned “all indiscriminate attacks on civilians” and text that would have called for an “urgent suspension of hostilities” and steps toward a cease-fire.

The U.S. vetoed an amendment proposed by Russia to change the text of the resolution.

The final text calls for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and “deplores all attacks against civilians and civilian objects … and all acts of terrorism.” 

The final text also calls for “urgent steps” to allow humanitarian access, and adds urgency to “create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”

Israel, backed by the U.S., has opposed outside efforts to demand a cease-fire in its military operation against Hamas, which is aimed at destroying the U.S.-designated terror group following its unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage. More than 100 hostages remain in Hamas captivity. 

Thomas-Greenfield criticized Russia’s moves in the security council as hypocritical, given its nearly 21 month of war against Ukraine.

“I’m not going to respond to Russia’s rant, a country that has also created conditions that they are complaining about now in their unprovoked war in Ukraine,” Thomas-Greenfield said. 

The U.S. ambassador, despite abstaining from the vote, hailed the resolution’s passage as an important step for the council, underscoring the severity of the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza. An estimated 20,000 people have been killed by Israel’s attacks since Oct. 7.

While Hamas is not named in the text, the resolution “demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address medical needs of all hostages.”

The resolution also calls on the U.N. secretary-general to appoint expeditiously a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator with responsibility for facilitating the delivery of aid in Gaza. 

“This resolution puts the weight of the Security Council behind these efforts and bolsters them by calling for the appointment of a senior UN official who will work to expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid at scale and in a sustained way,” Thomas-Greenfield said. 

The U.S. negotiated intensely over the final language of the text, with President Biden staying in touch with Thomas-Greenfield as debates played out. The U.S. had vetoed a resolution in the Security Council on Dec. 8 over objections to the language.

Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the U.N. and sponsor of the resolution, thanked the U.S. on Friday “for their complete engagement in trying to find a resolution that meets the moment.”

“We know this is not a perfect text. We know only a ceasefire will end the suffering,” Nusseibeh said. 

Palestinians in Gaza are suffering under an intense and acute humanitarian crisis amid Israel’s nearly three-month siege on the beleaguered strip, where Israel is working to root out Hamas rocket launchers buried in civilian areas, and destroy Hamas hideaways in its vast network of tunnels. 

A U.N.-backed analysis group said this week that the threshold for famine had been passed in the strip, with nearly all of the 2.2 million population at crisis-levels for hunger. 

“We know so much, so much more needs to be done to address this humanitarian crisis and to lay the groundwork for a lasting peace,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“And let’s be clear, Hamas has no interest in a lasting peace. Hamas is determined to repeat the horrors of Oct. 7, over, and over and over again. And that is why the United States supports Israel’s right to protect its people from acts of terror.” 

Updated at 1:14 p.m. ET