WASHINGTON: The White House said Monday that it is “very disappointed” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to call off a delegation’s official visit to Washington after a key UN Security Council vote in which the US did not exercise its veto.
“We’re very disappointed that they won’t be coming to Washington, DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah,” National Security Council John Kirby said.
The interagency delegation was set to begin talks with US counterparts in Washington early this week, but Netanyahu abruptly halted the visit in retaliation for Washington’s decision not to veto a UN Security Council resolution demanding an ” immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan” in the besieged Gaza Strip.
It also demanded the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs.”
The resolution emphasized the “urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance,” in line with international humanitarian law.
Israel has been conducting a sweeping military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
More than 32,333 Palestinians have since been killed, and over 74,694 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of basic necessities that have pushed much of the coastal enclave to the brink of famine.
The Israeli war, now in its 171st day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
US and Israeli delegations were set to discuss US proposals for alternatives to Israel’s vowed invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza where some 1.5 million internally-displaced Palestinians have sought refuge after being displaced elsewhere in Gaza.
