BRICS
maybe a intermediary in the Ukraine war? that’s just a meat grinder.
The US has vetoed previous UN security council votes on the nearly six-month war, objecting as recently as in February to the use of the term “immediate” in a draft submitted by Algeria.
It’s too little, too late. It might still be something, if Israel will listen. But I don’t see Israel listening. They appear to be brazen enough to do what they want, when they want.
If America wants to do something useful then it needs to stop sending financial aid to Israel, and it also needs to stop arming Israel.
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This call should have been made three-four months ago. Unfortunately, this occasion shows for me that Biden is not fit anymore to satisfyingly lead a superpower like the US. Trump is far worse of course, but that doesn’t make Biden’s lack of determination look better.
And as @RedOverTheWater wrote above, this will only have weight if there is an immediate stop of any direct help from the US for Israel. Otherwise, it will go on, as Israel have no history of listening to any call from the UNO.
Edit: meanwhile, the EU apparently wants to follow suit:
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Yeah , the Palestinians have been forced to Rafah with all the other areas ruined.
Maybe that’s the plan.
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From the Guardian
Antony Blinken, talking in Cairo, has said that in addition to progress being made towards a ceasefire in Gaza, there has been progress towards the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Hmm, so if that’s the carrot, where’s the stick???
Blinken characterised the UN resolution drafted by the US as calling for “an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages.”
What makes me think that Hamas won’t release the hostages ?
From the bbc website:
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-68631712?src_origin=BBCS_BBC
Breaking: US draft resolution fails
The US draft resolution has failed. There were 11 votes in favour, three against and one abstention.
Russia and China vetoed the draft resolution that tied an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Algeria also voted against the draft and Guyana abstained.
No idea why Russia and China would block a cease-fire resolution. Now they’ll have Palestinian blood on their hands as well.
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On basic principle that US proposed the ceasefire resolution.
I do think the ceasefire needs to be linked to the release of the Israeli hostages by the way.
As always , the permanent members of the UN SC are a group of war criminals who have no accountability whatsoever. The sooner the changes within the UN are made, the better for all.
I feel USA knew this was going to happen. Now Biden can claim that he tried and will try to pacify the angry supporters.
Also, the timing of this resolution is weird. It comes amid growing rumours that Israel and Hamas have narrowed some of the differences including the Palestinians prisoners to be released.
Also the Israeli media (taking it with a pinch of salt) has claimed that the IDF has arrested/ killed quite a lot of the top leadership of Hamas (atleast the ones still in Gaza and not in Qatar.
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Israel and Russia have close ties, and there is a direct incentive for keeping this conflict going and keeping the US distracted from Ukraine.
As for China, they just have a general sense that a strong country should not be prevented from doing what it sees as in its best interest by a body like the UN. An attitude shared by Russia, and ion all honesty, the US as well in most cases (when we want it to).
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Also I do think the position of the IDF that Hamas is building military infrastructure in the tunnels under the hospitals has been proven true to a degree.
I think what Russia intends is also that they intend to treat the Israel-Palestine issue as one which could point out their double standards when it comes to Ukraine.
Hence , they will likely not vote for a ceasefire on the flimsiest grounds knowing that if they and voted for a ceasefire , detractors could question why their actions in Ukraine cannot be treated the same way.
That and as you’ve said keeping US distracted from Ukraine.
Also I don’t think Hamas would accept such a ceasefire agreement where it’s responsibility on them to let the hostages go.
They likely would fear the byblow their treatment of the hostages would cause when it’s become known to the general public. Also I don’t see anywhere in the resolution where Israel is bound to release prisoners too.
But these discussions on prisoner exchange can happen after the ceasefire and neither want to take a step of calling for the ceasefire first.
Since October 7, I have seen many news/documentaries on Palestinian refugees as well as on the extent of Israeli oppressions in West Bank and East Jerusalem. I feel all these were swept under the carpet and only brought to light by the atrocious Hamas attack.
In a way, I feel the world has been complicit in the October 7 attack just as they have been in the subsequent Israeli destructions in Gaza.
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Israel still taking the piss and showing how much they despise any attempts made by anyone to calm things down:
Israel makes West Bank land declaration as Blinken visits
Raffi Berg
BBC Online Middle East editor
Israel has declared an area of the occupied West Bank as state land - the biggest in decades, according to activists - which could now be used for settlement activity.
The timing of the announcement, by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, was significant, coinciding with the arrival in Israel of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks on the Gaza war.
Blinken recently declared settlements in the West Bank to be “inconsistent with international law” - a reversal of the US’s position under the Trump administration.
Smotrich - an arch-proponent of Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank - said 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land in the northern Jordan Valley were now state-owned, meaning they can be developed.
“While there are those in Israel and the world who seek to undermine our right over the Judea and Samaria [Biblical terms for the West Bank] area and the country in general, we are promoting settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country,” he said.
The announcement is likely to anger the US at a time of growing tensions with Israel over the intensity of its offensive in Gaza.
There are about 700,000 Jewish settlers who live in some 140 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war and claimed by Palestinians for a future state.
The settlements are considered illegal by most of the international community, though Israel disputes this.
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what use would Russia/China have to destabilize western relations in the middle east, and redirect a ton of western resources to Israel instead of Ukraine. 
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In Israel’s eyes , they are the victors of this particular conflict and to the victors go the spoils.
This is Israel conveying that any further confrontations / incidents / attacks caused by Hamas etc will only result in further land grabs.