Israel-Hamas war: Israel cancels high-level meeting in Washington after U.S. abstains on cease-fire resolution

JERUSALEM — Israel told four European countries on Monday that their plan to work toward recognition of a Palestinian state constituted a “prize for terrorism.”

Spain said on Friday that, in the name of Middle East peace, it had agreed with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia to take first steps toward recognizing statehood declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza has long been under the rule of the Islamist group Hamas, which rejects peace with Israel and attacked it on Oct. 7, triggering a war that has stoked violence in the West Bank, where Israel has extensive Jewish settlements.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state following the October 7 massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.

Israel will no longer approve food convoys to northern Gaza from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, its commissioner-general said on X.

"This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine," Philippe Lazzarini wrote yesterday. "These restrictions must be lifted."

"By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine and many more will die of hunger, dehydration and lack of shelter," he added.

Israel has alleged that agency workers were involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

The U.S. considers the resolution passed in the United Nations Security Council nonbinding, a U.S. official said, because it does not create legal obligations for the parties involved.

Today's resolution passed 14-0, with a U.S. abstention, demanding an immediate cease-fire for the duration of Ramadan while also calling for the release of hostages.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the American ambassador to the body, said the U.S. supports the objectives and has been actively working toward that goal by mediating hostage negotiations.

"We're working around the clock to make them real on the ground through diplomacy, because we know that it is only through diplomacy that we can push this agenda forward," Thomas-Greenfield said.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. and Israel have been discussing the matter for days. Miller told reporters the U.S. does not believe the resolution separates calls for an immediate cease-fire from the call for the release of hostages.

“It’s not the exact language that we would put forward obviously, because the language that we put forward is the language that we did put forward last week, but it is language that is consistent with our policy to call for both a cease-fire and the release of hostages, and that’s why we did not exercise the veto today,” Miller said.

Israel Katz, Israel's foreign minister, wrote on X that the country will not cease fire. War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz said the resolution does not have "operational significance" to Israel, but the country should listen to its friends.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., said after the vote that Israel's actions toward Palestinians should trigger "serious international reaction."

"There are no rules without enforcement," Mansour told the council.

Israel has "no moral right" to end its war against Hamas before all the hostages who remain captive are released, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in Washington.

Gallant is scheduled to meet today with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, in the U.S. capital. He said he intends to stress the importance of defeating Hamas in his meeting with Sullivan.

"We will operate against Hamas everywhere, including in places where we have not yet been," Gallant said. "We will identify an alternative to Hamas, so that the IDF may complete its mission."

The delegation that was supposed to arrive in Washington tomorrow should continue despite the U.S. abstaining from the U.N. Security Council vote, Israeli minister Benny Gantz wrote in a post on X.

"Not only is it right for the delegation to travel — the prime minister would do well if he himself traveled to the USA, and held a direct dialogue with President Biden and the senior administration officials," Gantz wrote.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the trip after making it clear he believed the U.S. should veto the Security Council resolution. The resolution, which demanded a cease-fire for the remainder of Ramadan, was passed by the other 14 council members.

Gantz, a political rival to Netanyahu, visited Washington earlier this month and met with senior U.S. officials. He said today the council has no "operation significance" for Israel.

"At the same time, it is important to remember — the special relationship between Israel and the United States is an anchor in Israel’s security and foreign relations, and the direct dialogue with the American administration is an essential asset that must not be given up even when there are challenges and disputes," Gantz said.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations criticized the Security Council's passage of a cease-fire resolution today, saying the body has failed to prioritize the more than 130 hostages, including 33 who officials believe are dead.

Gilad Erdan criticized the United Nations for its inaction on hostage releases during his speech following the resolution vote. He reminded the body that the abduction of innocent civilians is a war crime and described the resolution as harmful to the efforts to bring them home.

"To this council, Israeli blood is cheap," Erdan said. "This is a travesty and I'm disgusted."

The resolution was proposed by Mozambique's ambassador and demanded an immediate cease-fire for the remaining duration of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that began March 10. While the resolution also called for the unconditional release of hostages, it did not make a cease-fire contingent on the freedom of those who remain captive in Gaza.

Former President Donald Trump said he would have responded to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in a similar manner to Israel, but he believes the country's leaders "made a very big mistake" in releasing images of Gaza bombings.

During an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Trump said he would watch the images every night, and that Israel's desire to look tough by releasing bombing footage drew "kickback" from the world.

"It's a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing this…every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people," Trump said. "It would say it was given by the Defense Ministry, and said whoever's providing that that's a bad image."

Trump also said that though he is not Jewish, "Israel for me is very important." When asked about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's calls for new elections in Israel, Trump said it showed "deep division" in the U.S. over Israel.

"So Israel has to get, Israel has to get better with the promotional and with the public relations, because right now they're in ruin," Trump said. "They're being hurt very badly. I think in a public relations sense."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a high-level delegation to the White House after the U.S. failed to veto a U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution.

Israel had been informed that the U.S. would support two resolutions calling for a cease-fire but not linked to a hostage release, an Israeli Embassy spokesperson told NBC News.

Netanyahu's office threatened to withhold the delegation, which was to include Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Israel’s national security adviser, and his office announced the cancellation after the U.S. abstained from the vote today.

"This withdrawal hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees, because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without the release of our abductees,” the prime minister’s office said.

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution today calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, while also calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The United States abstained from voting instead of vetoing the measure. All 14 other members of the council approved the resolution. This is the fifth time the Security Council has attempted to pass a cease-fire resolution.

Today's resolution was brought by Mozambique, calling for a cease-fire for the holy month of Ramadan, which began March 10.