Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after their meeting in Jerusalem on March 17, 2024. (Credit: Leo Correa/Pool/AFP)
Israel said Monday the US abstention on a Gaza cease-fire call at the United Nations would hurt its fight against Hamas and the effort to release hostages held by militants.
After more than five months of war, the UN Security Council for the first time demanded an "immediate cease-fire" after the United States, Israel's ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained.
"This is a clear retreat from the consistent position of the United States at the Security Council since the beginning of the war," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
It added that Netanyahu had canceled the planned departure of a delegation that was set to leave for consultations in Washington over future military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The UN vote "hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
"It gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a cease-fire without the release of our abductees."
Netanyahu "made it clear last night that if the US withdraws from its principled position, he will not send the Israeli delegation to the US," the statement noted.
"In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation would not leave," it said.
The UN resolution calls for an immediate truce that would lead to a "lasting, sustainable cease-fire" and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in their Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.
US President Joe Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a team for consultations over Israel's plans to launch a full-scale assault on Gaza's Rafah, which Washington opposes.
International fears have grown that a ground offensive in the southernmost tip of Gaza would drastically worsen a heavy civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.