The UN Security Council approved a draft resolution on Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the United States not objecting to the resolution. But why?
According to information regarding the US's decision not to exercise its veto, only one word was modified in the text of the resolution, which was approved by 14 countries with one country, the United States, abstaining from the vote.
Reports indicate that the sponsors of the resolution sought to include the phrase "permanent sustainable ceasefire," which the United States rejected. The inclusion of this phrase nearly led to a US veto. For this reason, in the final text, it was replaced with the phrase "lasting non-permanent."
This change allowed the United States to refrain from using the veto and simply abstain from voting on the resolution, which angered Israel. However, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, considered it "non-binding on Israel," while John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Chairman, referred to it in a press conference as "a non-binding resolution," asserting that it would have "no impact whatsoever on Israel’s ability to continue pursuing Hamas."
