Russia’s UN ambassador on Monday criticised the US for standing in the way of a Gaza ceasefire and signalled he would block another UN Security Council resolution submitted by Algeria.
Speaking to reporters, Vasily Nebenzya said that “only one delegation” has been blocking a possible ceasefire in Gaza for nearly five months. Saying that Russia had proposed a ceasefire resolution on 16 October, he noted that so many lives could have been saved if the ceasefire had been accepted.
His remarks came as Algeria is expected to introduce a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas and demanding the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
“Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Saturday, as the resolution “may run counter” to efforts by the US, Egypt, and Qatar for a hostage deal, she added. Linda Thomas-Greenfield added:
The United States will continue to engage in the diplomacy necessary to get a hostage deal over the finish line, and will be candid with Israeli and regional leaders regarding our expectations for the protection of more than one million civilians in Rafah.
On Sunday, Benny Gantz, a member of Netanyahu’s military cabinet, warned that the offensive would spread to Rafah if the hostages were not released by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, expected around 10 March.
The war began when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages. About 130 people have been held captive since Israel’s Palestinian swap in November, a quarter of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians since 7 October, the territory’s health ministry said on Monday, marking another grim milestone in one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the offensive until “total victory” over Hamas after the militants attacked Israeli settlements on 7 October. He and the military said troops would soon enter the southernmost town of Rafah on the Egyptian border, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have taken refuge from fighting elsewhere.
