Palestine welcomes UN Security Council resolution supporting US proposal for cease-fire in Gaza

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - Palestine's envoy to the UN welcomed the adoption on Monday of a UN Security Council resolution that supports a Gaza cease-fire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden.

"Our position has been always to have an immediate cease-fire to stop the killing of our people. This resolution is a step in that direction," Riyad Mansour told reporters at a press conference in New York.

The Security Council adopted the resolution with 14 votes in favor, with only Russia abstaining.

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

Expressing gratitude to Algeria for its input to the resolution with aims to make it "closer to the objectives of the national rights of the Palestinian people," Mansour said: " We succeeded to a certain extent, but of course, we did not succeed in all the things that we wanted. Nevertheless, we welcome this step, and I believe that all Palestinians welcome this step."

Calling for the resolution's implementation and to get humanitarian aid to Palestinians, Mansour expressed hope for the resolution to end forced displacement of Gazans and "to allow our people to return to the areas where they were pushed out of in all parts of the Gaza Strip, including the north."

He called on Israel to implement the resolution promptly, stressing the importance of making the cease-fire permanent and ensuring the release of Palestinian prisoners.

"Now the burden is on the Israeli side to implement this resolution and to have the cease-fire immediately in place and also to have the exchange, including the release of Palestinian prisoners, and to make this cease-fire a permanent cease-fire," he said.

He further reiterated Palestine's commitment to international legal mechanisms, referencing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"We will continue pursuing justice and accountability through international mechanisms, legal mechanisms. I'm referring to the ICJ and to the ICC. Those who committed one additional massacre in Nuseirat last Saturday should face justice. Those who were responsible for giving the orders and executing that order should be brought to justice," he added.

On Saturday, the Israeli army freed four hostages during a military operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

During the operation, at least 274 Palestinians were killed and 700 others were injured in a bombardment of the camp, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Mansour concluded by pledging continued efforts to seek justice and rebuild Gaza, aiming for a peaceful resolution that leads to the end of the occupation and the independence of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.

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.

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.