Israel cancels White House visit after US doesn't block UN ceasefire vote
After the vote, in a statement posted online by public broadcaster Kann, the Israeli prime minister's office said the decision was made "in light of the change in the US position".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially cancelled an Israeli delegation visit to the White House this week after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and the release of all hostages.
The United States abstained from the vote. The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution, which was proposed by the 10 elected members of the body, reports Reuters.
After the vote, in a statement posted online by public broadcaster Kann, the Israeli prime minister's office said the decision was made "in light of the change in the US position".
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Netanyahu had previously threatened to cancel the visit, which comes ahead of an anticipated Israeli ground offensive in Gaza - which the Biden administration has opposed. The high-level delegation was due to discuss the planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million people have sought shelter.
Netanyahu said the failure of the US to veto the resolution was a "clear retreat" from its previous position and would hurt Israel's war efforts and bid to release more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas.
However, White House spokesperson John Kirby, in response, told reporters, "Our vote does not, and I repeat that does not represent a shift in our policy. Nothing has changed about our policy. Nothing."
Washington had been averse to the word ceasefire earlier in the nearly six-month-old war in the Gaza Strip and had used its veto power shield ally Israel as it retaliated against Hamas for an Oct 7 attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people.
But as famine looms in Gaza and amid growing global pressure for a truce in the war that Palestinian health authorities say has killed some 32,000 people, the US abstained on Monday to allow the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks.
Hamas welcomed the Security Council resolution, saying in a statement that it 'affirms readiness to engage in immediate prisoner swaps on both sides'.
