Hamas welcomes UN Security Council resolution supporting US proposal for cease-fire

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The Palestinian Hamas group on Monday welcomed the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that supports cease-fire in Gaza announced by US President Joe Biden.

In a statement shortly following the resolution's adoption, Hamas said it "welcomes what is included in the Security Council resolution that affirmed the permanent cease-fire in Gaza, the complete withdrawal, the prisoners’ exchange [and] the reconstruction."

Hamas also voiced its willingness to cooperate with the mediators to engage in indirect negotiations on implementing" the resolution's principles that said they are "consistent with the demands of our people and resistance."

The UN Security Council earlier adopted a resolution that supports a Gaza cease-fire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden, with 14 votes in favor, and only Russia's abstention.

The adopted resolution highlights the diplomatic efforts led by Egypt, the US, and Qatar, and welcomes Biden's three-phase proposal presented on May 31.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 84,700 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay 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.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar