Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a hgih-level Israeli delegation's planned visit to Washington, D.C. in apparent protest of the United States declining to block a United Nations Security Council measure on Monday that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Netanyahu claimed the U.S. was "retreating" by not vetoing the measure.
Before the vote, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the council, "For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, civilian deaths is a strategy and, sadly, you are playing right into their hands as they predicted."
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it was not a policy shift and said the U.S. had been "consistent" in its support for a cease-fire.
"The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas," Kirby said, according to the Associated Press.
Monday's vote came after Russia, China and Algeria voted against a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported "an immediate and sustained cease-fire" in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
Council members had disagreed over elements of the draft, and some highlighted what the United Nations called "glaring exclusions" despite having raised multiple concerns with the US during negotiations.
Ambassadors largely supported swift action to bring food and lifesaving aid at scale into Gaza, where a UN-backed report raised alarms about famine as Israel continues to block and slow shipments.
