Phone Conversations
On the night of December 23rd, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a lengthy phone call in order to discuss the present situation in Gaza, as well as to discuss recent UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on the conflict.
The conversation between the two took place over about 45 minutes, and the details of most of the conversation are hidden.
Biden explicitly stated he did not request a ceasefire after he was questioned about it by media.
Conflicting Claims
Following the phone call, it began being reported that Biden had spoken to Netanyahu about “scaling back” Israel’s offensive in Gaza. However, Netanyahu today released a statement denying this, stating that “false publications” claimed that the “US prevented and is preventing us from operations in the region”, adding that “this is not true”.
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The PM further added that “Our decisions in the war are based on our operational considerations, and I will not elaborate on that. They are not dictated by external pressures”.
Within the phone call and in his statement Netanyahu explicitly stated, as Israel and Netanyahu often have many times, that their “goal is to fulfill the mission, in all our missions – first and foremost the elimination of Hamas and the return of our hostages”.
UNSC Resolution
On Friday the UNSC passed a resolution which is to allow for more aid into Gaza, as well as occasional humanitarian pauses. The resolution passed after long days of closed-door negotiations. Notably, the US and Russia abstained from the vote.
Reportedly the resolution initially called for a cessation of hostilities, however the US managed to alter the language of the resolution so it did not call for a ceasefire. Both Israel and the US have condemned the resolution for not condemning Hamas.
The US abstained from the vote rather that exercising their power to veto the resolution after they had previously faced backlash for vetoing a UNSC resolution which called for a ceasefire within Gaza.
