Although the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Monday demanding a right away ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, it stays to be seen whether this may have a concrete impact on the war or whether it can prove to be merely a political stance.
This solution, Resolution 2728, got here after three previous attempts that the United States blocked. It was adopted by a majority of 14 votes, after the United States abstained and didn’t veto it.
The resolution also called for the unconditional release of all hostages and an end to barriers to humanitarian aid.
The Israeli government condemned the vote, and initial indications are that the U.N. motion has made little difference on the bottom or spurred diplomatic progress.
Just a few days after the vote, here’s what’s modified and what might occur next:
Did the resolution have an effect on the fight?
Senior Israeli officials have said they are going to ignore calls for a ceasefire, arguing that it’s crucial to proceed the war until it crushes the military wing of Hamas, the militant group that led the October 7 attack on Israel.
There has been no visible change in the military campaign since Monday. The Israeli Air Force continues to bomb Gaza, and Hamas continues to launch attacks.
The Israeli military continues its raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the most important medical facility in the territory, in addition to its offensive in Khan Younis, the most important city in the south, where fighting is fierce.
If Israel doesn’t comply with the resolution, what can the UN do?
The Security Council has few resources to implement its resolutions. The Council may take punitive measures by imposing sanctions on violators. In the past, such measures included travel bans, economic restrictions and an arms embargo.
But in this case, legal experts said any additional measure would require a brand new resolution and its adoption would require the approval of 5 veto-wielding council members, including the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally.
Legal challenges may additionally arise. Although the United Nations says Security Council resolutions are considered international law, legal experts debate whether all resolutions are binding on member states or only those adopted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which deals with threats to peace. The resolution adopted on Monday didn’t explicitly mention Chapter VII.
U.N. officials said it was still binding on Israel, but some countries disagreed. South Korea said on Monday that the resolution was not “clearly coercive in accordance with Chapter VII”, but reflected the consensus of the international community.
Most importantly, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield maintained that the resolution was not binding. The United States, which has significant power on the Security Council as a result of its everlasting seat, likely sees adoption of the resolution as a more priceless political instrument than a binding order, experts say.
According to Ivo H. Daalder, former US ambassador to NATO, the US abstention sends a powerful signal about its political priorities, even when the Security Council is unlikely to take further steps in the short term.
“Neither Israel nor Hamas will be influenced by the UN resolution,” Daalder said.
What about help?
Israel controls the flow of aid into Gaza, and after five months of war, Gazans face a serious hunger crisis bordering on famine, especially in the north, in keeping with the United Nations and residents of the territory.
Aid groups blame Israel, which declared a siege on the territory after October 7. They claim officials have hampered aid deliveries through inspections and tight restrictions.
Israel says it’s trying to stop aid from reaching Hamas and says its officials may process more aid than aid groups can distribute inside their territory. Growing lawlessness in Gaza has also hampered aid distribution, with some convoys ending in deadly violence.
Not much has modified this week. The variety of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza on Tuesday through two border crossings open to help roughly matches the typical each day number crossing the border this month, in keeping with UN data. That number, about 150 trucks a day, is nearly 70 percent lower than the figure before October 7.
How did the resolution affect diplomacy?
Israel and Hamas appear to still be far apart in negotiations geared toward brokering an end to the fighting and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Mediators were in Qatar to attempt to narrow the gaps. But late Monday, Hamas rejected Israel’s latest counter-proposal, and its political leader said during a visit to Tehran this week that the resolution shows Israel is diplomatically isolated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the resolution delayed negotiations, emboldening Hamas to demand higher terms.
The biggest sticking point in ceasefire talks recently has been the variety of Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released, particularly those serving prolonged sentences for violence against Israelis, U.S. and Israeli officials say.
