The UN Security Council has approved a cease-fire resolution for Gaza

March 25th, 2024

The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East, including the war in Gaza, at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.
Angela Weiss / Angela Weiss

JERUSALEM — The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has voted 14-0 in favor of a resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza for the rest of Ramadan. The United States abstained from the vote, allowing the measure to pass.

The resolution calls for the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages taken captive by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Ramadan is set to end in just over two weeks, on April 9, so if any cease-fire does manifest from the vote it may only be short-lived.

Monday’s vote followed several failed attempts by the Security Council at brokering a cease-fire resolution — including one as recently as three days ago.

The U.S. had supported calls for a cease-fire only if they were connected to the release of hostages under a deal being negotiated by Egypt and Qatar. The U.S. says the Security Council should pressure Hamas to accept a deal on the table.

Leading up to the vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of an Israeli delegation to the U.S. that he would cancel their trip to Washington, D.C., if the U.S. did not outright veto the resolution, according to Israeli media.

A high-level delegation was scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday to talk through a planned Israeli military operation in Rafah, in the south of Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge from the war.