The White House expressed “disappointment” because Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned visit to Washington by a high-ranking Israeli delegation after the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, with the US abstaining from the vote.

“It’s disappointing. We are very disappointed that they will not come to Washington so that we can have a comprehensive discussion with them about viable alternatives to the Rafah field,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.

According to the spokesperson, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin however, he will meet tomorrow with his Israeli counterpart, Mr Joab Gallant, who is already in Washington, to discuss issues such as the release of hostages, the dispatch of humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians in Rafah. Gallant is also scheduled to hold talks with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

US President Joe Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a delegation to Washington for consultations regarding Israel’s plan to carry out a large-scale military operation in the town of Rafah, which the US opposes.

Kirby emphasized that American policy has not changed, despite the decision to abstain from this particular vote. He added that US officials would continue to raise Washington’s concerns about Israel’s policy in Gaza as part of ongoing talks between the two governments. “Nothing has changed in terms of our view that a major ground attack on Rafah would be a big mistake,” he said.

Gallant, for his part, argued that Israel “does not have the moral right to stop the war in Gaza until all the hostages return home.” He added that he would tell the White House that Israel would take action against Hamas everywhere, “even in places we haven’t been yet.”

The Israeli minister also warned that unless there is a “decisive victory” in Gaza, “we could be closer to a war in the north”, where Israeli forces are exchanging fire with its fighters Hezbollah for five months, since operations began in the Palestinian enclave.

In Israel, parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of trying to divert attention from disagreements in the ruling coalition over the conscription bill at the expense of the country’s ties with the US. “This is shocking irresponsibility from a prime minister who has lost it,” he wrote on the X platform.

The Israeli government sees the US abstention from the vote as harming Israel’s war effort and preventing the release of the hostages “because it gives Hamas the hope that international pressure will allow it to achieve a ceasefire without the release of the hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Instead, Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour said today’s UN resolution “should be the turning point” to end the “agony” of Gazans. “It should allow lives to be saved (…) It should signal the end of this brutal attack against our people,” Mansour said.