By Iqbal Jassat
As expected, the “ceasefire resolution” has got the world abuzz. While Hamas has welcomed it by thanking the UN Security Council, the occupying regime is deeply unhappy and distressed.
In its statement, Hamas has called for a permanent ceasefire that “leads to the withdrawal of all Zionist forces from the Gaza Strip, and the return of the displaced to the homes from which they left”.
To demonstrate its commitment to comply with the resolution, Hamas said it is willing “to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides”.
In addition, Hamas has called on the UN Security Council “to pressure the occupation to adhere to the ceasefire and stop the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people”.
On the other hand, the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu is fuming. His anger is reflective of the deep-seated vengeful characteristic of the racist Zionist ideology, responsible for the mass slaughter of Palestinians in what has outraged the world since October 7 last year.
The death toll in the besieged Gaza Strip now tops 32,400, 75 percent of them children and women, according to the Gaza Media Office. At least 7,000 others are still trapped under the rubble.
As the minutes were ticking at the UN Security Council on Monday, with member states seen huddling in groups before the session commenced, Netanyahu issued an ultimatum to US President Joe Biden: If you fail to veto it, I will cancel the trip of my envoys to you.
His threat failed dismally. The Biden administration, which has militarily and financially supported the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza in the past 172 days, abstained from voting.
Importantly, the US vetoed Gaza ceasefire resolutions on three occasions in recent months. By not exercising its veto power this time, the resolution sailed through with the support of all 14 states.
The much-awaited resolution demands an immediate ceasefire for the holy month of Ramadan. It also calls for an immediate release of “hostages”, without conditioning it.
In other words, the resolution does not insist that for the ceasefire to kick in, Israeli captives have to be released as a prior condition by the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group.
Pertinently, the Security Council did not entertain the request submitted by the Russian representative who called for a permanent ceasefire after the holy month of Ramadan.
Also, the draft did not accept the demand of the Israeli regime, the US and the UK to “condemn” the Hamas resistance group, which irked the regime and its Western backers.
In contextualizing the legal obligations of member states to abide by UNSC resolutions, it’s important to distinguish Hamas as a non-state resistance movement engaged in a freedom struggle that is not a party to the UN Charter, whereas the apartheid regime of Israel is.
It means that the resolution is primarily directed at the Zionist entity by calling on it as a party to the UN Charter to comply with the ceasefire demand.
Although the enforcement mechanism isn’t clearly defined, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his remarks on Monday said the much-awaited resolution “must be implemented” and that “failure would be unforgivable.”
Hence Hamas is perfectly correct to insist that the UNSC pressures the occupying regime to adhere to the ceasefire resolution and stop the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.
At the same time, while Netanyahu has been throwing tantrums, his military affairs minister Yoav Gallant is currently stationed in Washington, meeting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The tension and policy differences between Netanyahu and Gallant have become messy and publicly known even though the regime has been trying to cover it up to avoid further embarrassment.
A crisis between the two warlords as well as huge cracks in the US/Israel alliance is a welcome development for Palestine’s resistance movements, particularly Hamas, notwithstanding the fact that the Biden administration remains fully committed to Netanyahu’s criminal goals in Gaza.
In his response on behalf of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), Secretary-general Mustafa Barghouti was pretty forthright:
“The UN Security Council resolution for an immediate ceasefire is binding, and it dealt a blow to Netanyahu and his extremist and aggressive government, and sanctions must be imposed on it if it refuses to implement it,” he stated,
“Although the decision was unbalanced with regard to the prisoners because it did not explicitly refer to the need to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners, it stressed the necessity of removing all ‘Israeli’ obstacles to the arrival of humanitarian aid to all areas of the Gaza Strip, which means the freedom for all displaced persons to return to their homes and areas where they abandoned it.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on his visit to Tehran on Tuesday, a day after the resolution was adopted, said it was delayed and riddled with shortcomings but still underscores the isolation of the regime.
He also thanked the Islamic Republic for its steadfast support to the Palestinian cause and nation.
Iqbal Jassat is an executive member of Media Review Network, Johannesburg, South Africa.
(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)
