Unlike the two previous attempts at a UN Security Council resolution calling for the end to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, last night’s was non-binding. Likewise, unlike the previous two, the United States allowed this one to pass (though they themselves abstained from voting).
However, as has been the case with every attempt to broker a ceasefire to end these attacks, the Israeli government is not on board, and the war will continue. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert condemned the plan as unworkable, and said the continued rocket fire from the strip proved that the “murderous Palestinian organizations” would never go along with it. Olmert didn’t mention that his own military likewise continued its attacks through the night in spite of the resolution’s call for an immediate, durable ceasefire.
Among Hamas officials, the response was mixed. One said it was being studied, while others said that the resolution doesn’t mean anything to them unless it involved actual enforcement. They likewise said the US refusal to vote underscores that America was intent on giving Israel more time to continue its war.
So this resolution appears dead on arrival, and Egypt’s alternative ceasefire proposal appears to have stalled as well. In the meantime, Olmert will have plenty of time to continue with his promised escalation of the war.