Türkiye welcomes UN Security Council's adoption of Gaza ceasefire resolution

ANKARA

Türkiye welcomes the United Nations Security Council's adoption of a resolution aimed at reaching a comprehensive cease-fire deal to end the war in Gaza, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We consider the United Nations Security Council Resolution to establish a ceasefire as an important step towards ending the massacres in Gaza," the statement read.

The Ministry stated that Türkiye welcomes Hamas' constructive and positive approach to the ceasefire plan and called upon Israel to commit to abide by the permanent ceasefire and fully implement all elements of the resolution.

"Türkiye will continue to contribute to steps to ensure a permanent end to the war, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the mutual release of hostages and prisoners, the return of displaced Palestinians, the uninterrupted and adequate delivery of humanitarian aid, and the reconstruction of Gaza," it concluded.

The Security Council on Monday adopted the U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a ceasefire plan in Gaza, as Washington leads an intense diplomatic campaign to push for acceptance of the proposal.

The text — passed with 14 votes in favor and Russia abstaining — "welcomes" the truce and hostage release proposal announced on May 31 by U.S. President Joe Biden, and urges "parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition."

The resolution says Israel has accepted the truce plan, and "calls upon Hamas to also accept it."

Hamas said Monday that it "welcomes" the vote.

The United States, a staunch ally of Israel, has been widely criticized for having blocked several previous U.N. draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

But Biden late last month launched a new U.S. effort to secure a truce and hostage release.

However the deal remains uncertain as Hamas officials have insisted that any ceasefire agreement must guarantee a permanent end to the war — a demand Israel has firmly rejected, vowing to destroy Hamas and free the remaining captives.

Under the proposal, Israel would withdraw from Gaza population centers and Hamas would free the hostages. The ceasefire would last an initial six weeks, with it extended as negotiators seek a permanent end to hostilities.

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, meanwhile welcomed the council's vote, stating that the "burden" of implementing the resolution and ceasefire "is on the Israeli side."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas added that he considered "the adoption of this resolution a step in the right direction to end the war of genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip."

Since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 against Israel, and the subsequent Israeli counterattack, the U.N. Security Council has struggled to act.

Following two resolutions focused on humanitarian aid, the Security Council finally at the end of March demanded an "immediate ceasefire" for the duration of Ramadan, after the United States abstained from the vote.

Israel launched its war on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 37,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The first phase of the truce would see an "immediate, full and complete ceasefire," the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and the "withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza."

This would also allow the "safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout the Gaza Strip to all Palestinian civilians who need it."

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, countered that the council was singing on to the plan without "details" and "giving a carte blanche."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the latest effort to halt the eight months of war.