A spokesman for the US diplomacy rejected on Tuesday the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which the demand of the United Nations Security Council to immediately declare a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip damaged the negotiations between his government and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas for the release of the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller countered that this comment by Mr. Netanyahu’s office is “inaccurate in almost every respect and unfair to the hostages and their families.”

Referring to Hamas’ rejection of the latest proposal on the negotiating table in close proximity, US State Department spokesman Miller told accredited editors that “this response was prepared before the UN Security Council vote, not after.” adding that the way Hamas’ response is presented publicly is wrong.

Mr. Miller added that US diplomacy does not intend to engage in “rhetorical distractions on the issue” and will continue efforts to secure the release of the Israeli hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Netanyahu’s services released a statement earlier yesterday in which it is judged that “Hamas’ attitude clearly shows its absolute indifference to reaching a negotiated solution and certifies the damage done by the UN Security Council’s decision.”

The day before Monday, in a decision that is binding under international law, the UN Security Council called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, for the first time since the outbreak of war on October 7.

In addition, the top UN body demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages remaining in the hands of Hamas.

The decision was approved with 14 votes in favor and one abstention, that of the US, which chose not to exercise its right of veto. It was met with outrage by Israel.

Washington had vetoed the SA three times to shoot down draft resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire as of yesterday.

The decision was adopted against the background of the humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian enclave, where famine is now threatened, and concerns about a possible ground attack by the Israeli army in Rafah, at the southern end of the Palestinian enclave, on the closed border with Egypt, where they are trapped somewhere one and a half million people, the vast majority displaced from other sectors of the narrow coastal strip of land.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reacted angrily to the US stance and canceled a high-level delegation visit to Washington this week requested by US President Joe Biden’s administration to discuss the Rafah issue.

The spokesman for the US Department of State Miller saw fit to also say that the Biden administration does not make decisions motivated by “minor disagreements, or whether someone canceled a meeting or not”, but based on the “national security interests of the US and its partners”. in this case the Middle East.