USA's president Joe Biden says it is now up to Hamas to show they are serious about achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.
"The UN Security Council has just adopted our resolution calling on Hamas to accept the agreement to establish a ceasefire with the release of hostages. Hamas says they want a ceasefire. This agreement is an opportunity to prove they mean it," writes Biden on X.
In the UN resolution, adopted by 14 out of 15 countries in the Security Council on Monday evening, Hamas and Israel are urged to fully and unconditionally implement the provisions outlined in the proposal presented by Biden at the end of May.
The USA claims that Israel has accepted the proposal – something that has not been clarified by Israel's government.
Terror-listed Hamas has in turn "welcomed" the UN resolution and said they are ready to cooperate with mediators to initiate negotiations, but have not confirmed whether they fully accept the proposal.
The Israeli UN diplomat Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly avoids directly commenting on the resolution, but stresses before the Security Council that Israel's stance is unwavering:
The ceasefire proposal on the table consists of three phases.
The first phase, lasting six weeks, involves a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from "all populated areas in the Gaza Strip", and the exchange of a number of hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Phase two is dependent on the parties first agreeing on "necessary arrangements". But if that happens, it would entail a permanent end to hostilities, the release of all remaining living hostages, and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
In the third phase, the remains of deceased hostages would also be returned, and a comprehensive reconstruction plan would be launched.
