Denmark calls UN Security Council Gaza cease-fire resolution sign of global consensus

By Ebad Ahmed

PRAGUE (AA) – Denmark on Tuesday hailed the UN Security Council endorsement of a new cease-fire plan as an important development showing the prospects of global consensus.

“Important that UN Security Council has backed cease-fire plan,” said Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on X.

He added that the international community is coming together to find a way forward for the release of all hostages, a permanent cease-fire, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

The resolution, submitted by the US, got 14 votes in favor at the 15-member Security Council, with Russia abstaining. The resolution highlights the diplomatic efforts led by Egypt, the US, and Qatar, and welcomes US President Joe Biden's three-phase proposal presented in late May.

The resolution says Israel has accepted the proposal and calls on Hamas to do the same.

Following the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield also hailed the resolution and called for Hamas to accept it to end the fighting.

She said a cease-fire agreement would "pave the way toward an enduring cessation of hostilities and a better future for all.”

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.