Americans for Peace Now (APN) applauds the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other militants in Gaza, and for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Significantly, the resolution calls for a "sufficient number of days" to allow humanitarian aid access to civilians in Gaza.

The resolution passed this afternoon, after several unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement among the 15 members of the UNSC. The United States, along with Russia and Britain – all three have veto powers at the Council – abstained from the vote on the resolution drafted by Malta, but by doing so rather than exercising their veto power, allowed it to pass. All other 12 remaining members of the UNSC supported the resolution, which calls on all parties to respect the pauses in fighting and to abide by international law.

APN has repeatedly called for meaningful humanitarian pauses in the fighting in the Gaza Strip to alleviate the dire crisis among Gazan civilians, as well as demanding the end of rocket attacks from Gaza and the immediate release of all hostages.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “We have been calling for humanitarian pauses since the fighting in Gaza started last month. We applaud the United Nations for passing a resolution that calls for releasing the hostages, demands that all parties respect international law, and makes clear the dire need for a significant humanitarian pause. The United States should support Israel, but that does not mean it should block appropriate actions at the UN. While the Biden Administration did not vote for the resolution, I am pleased that it refrained from vetoing and allowed it to pass.”