Although the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, it remains to be seen whether it will have a concrete effect on the war or turn out to be just a political statement.
The measure, Resolution 2728, followed three previous attempts that had been blocked by the United States. It passed with 14 votes, after the United States abstained and did not use its veto.
The resolution also calls for the unconditional release of all hostages and an end to barriers to humanitarian aid.
Israel’s government condemned the vote, and early indications are that UN action has changed little on the ground or spurred diplomatic progress.
Days after the vote, here’s what’s changed and what might happen next:
Has the resolution affected the battle?
Senior Israeli officials said they would ignore the cease-fire call, arguing it was imperative to continue the war until the military wing of Hamas, the militant group that led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, was dismantled.
As of Monday, there was no apparent change in the military campaign. The Israeli air force continues to pound Gaza with strikes and Hamas continues to launch attacks.
The Israeli army is continuing its raid on Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, the territory’s largest medical facility, as well as its assault on Khan Younis, the largest city in the south, where fighting has been fierce.
If Israel ignores the resolution, what can the UN do?
The Security Council has few means to enforce its resolutions. The Council may take punitive measures, imposing sanctions against violators. In the past, such measures have included travel bans, economic restrictions and arms embargoes.
In this case, however, legal experts said any additional measure would require a new resolution and that its passage would require the consent of the council’s five veto-wielding members, including the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally.
There may also be legal challenges. While the United Nations says Security Council resolutions are considered international law, legal experts debate whether all resolutions are binding on member states or only those passed under Chapter VII of the UN charter, which deals with threats for peace. The resolution passed Monday did not specifically mention Chapter VII.
UN officials said it was still binding on Israel, but some countries disagreed. South Korea said on Monday that the resolution was not “expressly coercive under Chapter VII” but that it reflected the consensus of the international community.
Crucially, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, argued that the resolution was not binding. The United States, which wields significant power in the Security Council because of its permanent seat, likely sees the passage of the resolution more as a valuable political tool than a binding mandate, experts said.
The US abstention sends a strong signal about its policy priorities even if, in the short term, the Security Council is unlikely to take further steps, according to Ivo H. Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO.
“Neither Israel nor Hamas is going to be affected by a UN resolution,” Mr Daalder said.
What about the help?
Israel controls the flow of aid to Gaza, and after five months of war, Gazans are facing a severe hunger crisis bordering on starvation, especially in the north, according to the United Nations and local residents.
Aid groups blamed Israel, which announced a siege of the territory after October 7. They say officials have blocked aid deliveries through inspections and tight restrictions.
Israel maintains it is working to prevent aid from reaching Hamas and says its officials can process more aid than aid groups inside the territory can distribute. Growing lawlessness in Gaza has also made aid distribution difficult, with some convoys ending in deadly violence.
A few things have changed this week. The number of aid trucks entering Gaza on Tuesday from the two border crossings open for aid roughly matched the average daily number of crossings this month, according to UN figures. That number, about 150 trucks a day, is nearly 70 percent less than the number before Oct. 7.
How did the resolution affect diplomacy?
Israel and Hamas still appear to be far apart on negotiations aimed at ending the conflict and exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Mediators have been in Qatar to try to bridge the gaps. But late Monday, Hamas rejected Israel’s latest counterproposal, and its political leader, on a visit to Tehran this week, said the resolution showed Israel was diplomatically isolated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the resolution was delaying negotiations, encouraging Hamas to hold out for better terms.
The biggest sticking point in the recent ceasefire talks has been the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, particularly those serving long sentences for violence against Israelis, US and Israeli officials said.
