Global community appeals to Israel to end the Gaza military campaign
With the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopting a resolution on June 10 for a comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza, the international community is calling on Israel to urgently implement the consensus and halt the military campaign that is causing untold suffering to millions of besieged Palestinians.
According to a statement published by WAFA news agency, the Palestinian presidency welcomed the adoption of Resolution 2735 by the UN Security Council, calling for an immediate and complete cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, as “a step in the right direction to stop the ongoing war of genocide against the Palestinian people”.
It also reiterated its call for the implementation of the two-state solution. Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, who spoke to the media after the vote in New York, said Palestine is “determined with our friends to make a long-lasting, permanent cease-fire”.
On June 11, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, who is based outside Gaza, said the group accepted the cease-fire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details.
It is up to Washington to ensure that Israel abides by it, he added. He said Hamas accepted the formula stipulating the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a swap of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
Belal Alakhras, a political analyst and Palestinian researcher at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, told China Daily that the resolution endorsing a cease-fire in Gaza reflects the international consensus that “continuing the genocidal war is illegitimate and that restoring stability in the region is urgently needed”.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the fighting could “stop today if Hamas agrees to the deal now endorsed by the Security Council”.
But Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, political coordinator of the Israeli mission to the UN, said her country’s goals have been “very clear” since Oct 7, namely to bring all Israeli hostages home and dismantle Hamas, ensuring that Gaza “does not pose a threat to Israel in the future”.
She said that Israel “will not engage in meaningless and endless negotiations which can be exploited by Hamas as a means to stall for time”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June 8 following the rescue of four Israeli hostages that Israel would not relent “until we complete the mission and return all our hostages home, both the living and the deceased”.
Last week, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued calls to “expand the war in Gaza” and to invade Lebanon.
Turkiye called the UNSC resolution “an important step toward putting an end to the massacre”, and lauded Hamas’ “constructive and positive approach” to the cease-fire plan.
“It is imperative that Israel announces its commitment to the implementation of a permanent cease-fire and fully implements all elements of the resolution,” the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Alakhras noted that the US vetoed three cease-fire proposals while enabling Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza, welcomed the resolution but shared “some critical observations”.
The UNSC “cannot infringe people’s right to self-determination” as it lacks the authority to determine who will or should rule over Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, she said, underscoring that only Palestinians can choose via “free and democratic elections”.
Agencies contributed to this story.
