UN Security Council backs resolution supporting Biden's Gaza ceasefire plan

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Joe Biden’s ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip.

The measure won 14 votes in favour, with Russia abstaining. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East to promote the proposal.

The vote marked the first time the world body has backed a comprehensive peace agreement aimed at ending the Gaza conflict.

Israel has already accepted the ceasefire terms, according to the document's text.

The proposal urged Hamas and Israel to fully implement the ceasefire's terms “without delay and without condition”, and calls on the Palestinian militant group to accept it.

“We're all waiting and waiting on Hamas to agree to the ceasefire deal it claims to want,” the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told council members before the vote.

"But we cannot afford to wait and wait and wait.

“Israel accepted this deal because it ensures its security. As President Biden made clear, Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7, and the United States' commitment to Israel's self defence is ironclad."

Ms Thomas-Greenfield said that after consultations with all council members, support for the resolution clearly indicates that the “world wants an immediate ceasefire with the release of hostages".

The text also underscored “the importance of the continuing diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States aimed at reaching a comprehensive ceasefire deal, consisting of three phases".

While the US text is "not perfect", said Algeria's ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, "it offers a glimmer of hope to the Palestinians as the alternative is continued killing and suffering of the Palestinian people".

"We voted for this text to give diplomacy a chance to reach an agreement that will end the aggression against the Palestinian people. That has lasted for far too long," Mr Bendjama said.

Whether Israel and Hamas will agree to implement the ceasefire plan remains in question.

"From the very beginning of escalation in Gaza, the Council has adopted three resolutions, which have remained on paper in terms of implementation," Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said.

"Here, we can add a fourth This is not something we could call a positive trend," he noted.

The proposal comes in three phases that firstly would comprise “a full and complete ceasefire,” the withdrawal of Israeli forces from “all populated areas of Gaza,” and the release of “a number of hostages – including women, the elderly and the wounded – in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners".

The initial phase is expected to last six weeks, during which Israel and Hamas would “negotiate the necessary arrangements” to move to the second phase, which would centre on the “release of all remaining living hostages” in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The final phase would include a “major reconstruction plan for Gaza” and the return of “any final remains of hostages who have been killed” to their families.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Mr Biden presented only parts of the proposal and that any discussion of a permanent ceasefire before dismantling Hamas’s military and governing ability is unacceptable.

Hamas welcomed the adoption of the resolution that “affirmed the permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” the militant group said in a statement.

The group also said it was willing to engage in indirect negotiations over implementing the principles "that are consistent with the demands of our people and resistance."

Israel's UN political coordinator, Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, pointed out that Israel will not allow Hamas to rearm, regroup, or remain in power.

“This also means that Israel will not engage in meaningless and endless negotiations, which can be exploited by Hamas as a means to stall for time," she said.

Israel’s military assault has killed more than 37,100 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

It has also destroyed about 80 per cent of Gaza’s buildings, according to the UN.

The assault was in response to the October 7, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and abducted 240.

This was the 11th Security Council vote on a draft resolution concerning the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The resolution rejected any attempt to change Gaza’s territory or demography, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza.

It repeats the Security Council’s “unwavering commitment to achieving the vision of a negotiated two-state solution where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders".

Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.

Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:

1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition

Expert input

If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?

“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett

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On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

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French Touch

Carla Bruni

(Verve)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make

When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.

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This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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Result

Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 2

Man City: Jesus (39), David Silva (41)

Match info

Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')

West Ham United 0

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Who is Ramon Tribulietx?

Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.

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if you go

The flights

Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.

The trains

Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.

The hotels

Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.