Switzerland welcomes adoption of US-sponsored Gaza cease-fire resolution

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Switzerland welcomed the adoption Monday of a UN Security Council resolution that supports a Gaza cease-fire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden.

“It is urgent to restore a political horizon based on the two-state solution. This plan is a first step,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In the statement, Switzerland called for an immediate cease-fire, the unconditional release of all hostages, unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza, respect for international humanitarian law and a path toward a permanent end to hostilities.

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.

The US says Israel has accepted the resolution and called on the Palestinian group Hamas to do the same.

On May 31, Biden said that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

As part of the resolution's outline, the first phase proposes the "release of hostages including women, the elderly and the wounded, the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza and the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north, as well as the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout the Gaza Strip to all Palestinian civilians who need it."

The second phase includes the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza while permanently ceasing hostiles and the "full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."

In the third phase, the resolution proposes a long-term reconstruction plan for Gaza to be initiated and the return of the bodies of deceased hostages.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by 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 it 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.