Israel cancels Washington visit after UN resolution demands Gaza ceasefire

The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday after the US abstained, leading Israel to cancel a high-level visit to Washington.

In the first such demand since the war began in October, the resolution called for an immediate cessation of hostilities for the holy month of Ramadan, of which two weeks remain.

Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi, members of Israel’s war cabinet and close confidants of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had been due to travel to the US to discuss the looming invasion of Rafah, which Washington opposes.

But Israel called off the visit after the resolution was passed, the latest in a series of public rifts between the White House and Netanyahu over how Israel has conducted its military campaign against Hamas.

“In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that the delegation will not travel to the US,” Netanyahu’s office said.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesperson, said the White House was “perplexed” by the decision to cancel the visit by Dermer and Hanegbi, saying the resolution’s call for a ceasefire “fairly” reflected the Biden administration’s view that “a ceasefire and the release of hostages come together”.

Washington abstained from the vote because it did not explicitly condemn Hamas, Kirby added, noting the White House’s desire for a ceasefire and hostage release has been US policy for some time.

“The prime minister’s office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We haven’t. And we get to decide what, what our policy is.”

Washington traditionally shields Israel from UN votes it opposes and had blocked efforts to call for an unconditional ceasefire.

On Friday, Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution that linked “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” of at least six weeks to the release of the hostages.

In contrast, Monday’s measure demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas, but did not explicitly link this to the call for a ceasefire, drawing immediate condemnation from Netanyahu.

“[This vote] gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees,” he said.

Hamas is holding more than 100 Israelis captive after the Palestinian militant group abducted them on October 7 during a cross-border raid that sparked the war.

About 1,200 people were killed in Israel, according to local authorities, and at least 32,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — have been killed in Gaza in five months of war, according to Palestinian health officials.

Talks for a second round of Israeli hostage-for-Palestinian prisoner swaps are stalled, mainly over a disagreement on the length of the ceasefire that Israel and Hamas would agree to in order to facilitate the exchange.

“This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable,” UN secretary-general António Guterres wrote on X after the vote passed.

Hamas said it welcomed the call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, stressing “the necessity of reaching a permanent ceasefire” that would lead to the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.

Monday’s vote marks the first time the US has allowed a Security Council resolution sharply critical of Israel to pass since 2016.

It also reflects growing international and domestic pressure on the White House to do more to push its ally to protect civilians and wind down the fighting in Gaza.

The White House has expressed growing frustration with Netanyahu in recent weeks over how little humanitarian aid has entered the enclave, and the vast toll Israel’s military campaign has taken on Palestinian civilians.

Senior officials in President Joe Biden’s administration have come out against a planned major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, which they say will not achieve Netanyahu’s objective of eliminating Hamas.

Despite the cancellation of the Israeli delegation’s trip, Kirby said Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, who is widely seen in Israeli political circles as a rival to Netanyahu, was already in Washington for a separate visit. He said US officials planned to raise their concerns on Rafah with him.

“We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza,” Gallant said before his meetings with US officials in Washington. “The lack of a decisive victory in Gaza may bring us closer to a war in the north [with Hizbollah].”

The US hopes still to raise its concerns about Rafah and an alternate path forward even if the officials do not visit. Gallant is meeting Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, on Monday and later Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He meets defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.