As recently as the end of last week, few saw much chance that the UN Security Council would be able to agree terms for an immediate ceasefire, yet on Monday that is what happened, in no small part due to some British diplomatic persuasion and a significant American change of heart.
As a result the US did not use its veto to block a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. What practical difference it will make on the ground in Rafah and Khan Younis was hard to say at first, but judging by the initial furious Israeli reaction, and cries of US betrayal, this was about more than some words in the text of a UN resolution; it marks another moment in the painful, almost anguished US diplomatic distancing from its chief ally in the Middle East.
Two weeks ago the terrain looked very different. The US at the UN headquarters in New York had started a concerted effort to reassert its diplomatic leadership role over Gaza. It felt it had been pushed on to the back foot, three times vetoing ceasefire resolutions, and wanted to show it could draft a positive policy on Gaza rather than just being cast in the role of Israel's last diplomatic redoubt.
Denne historien er fra March 29, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra March 29, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.
