“I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours.”
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused US President Joe Biden on Tuesday of aligning with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar following the vote on a UNSC resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Presently, Biden prefers the line of (US Representative) Rashida Tlaib and Sinwar to the line of (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir,” he told The New York Times on Tuesday.
“I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours.”
The extremist minister criticized Biden’s approach towards Israel, saying the US president was ‘”enormously mistaken’” in his attempts to pressure Tel Aviv.
Biden “constantly sought to impose restrictions on Israel and talks about the rights of the other side, who include, I remind you, many terrorists who want to destroy us,” Ben-Gvir said.
UNSC Resolution
The United Nations Security Council adopted on Monday a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as the United Nations refrained from using its veto power for the first time, after 171 days of war.
The resolution, which was presented by non-permanent members of the Security Council, “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a sustainable lasting ceasefire.
It also “demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, stressing the urgent need to increase aid and demanding the removal of all obstacles to its delivery.”
The resolution, which was written by the ten elected members to the council and was proposed in the council by Mozambique’s representative, passed with 14 votes in favor and the US abstaining.
The United States said the resolution was non-binding. However, the UN Charter stipulates that all Security Council resolutions are legally binding under international law.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 32,490 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,889 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(PC, Anadolu)