Amid reports of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday that calls for increased humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

That it stopped short of calling for a cessation to the hostilities just serves to expose the complexity of the situation and the difficulty of realizing a cease-fire. The 15-member council adopted the resolution, which was proposed by the United Arab Emirates, 13 to 0, with the United States and Russia abstaining. The long-delayed vote on the watered-down resolution, which culminated a week and a half of intensive diplomacy involving the US, the UAE on behalf of Arab nations and others, was initially scheduled for Monday last week.

The Gaza conflict has claimed more than 20,000 lives since Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct 7, and more than half of the 1 million civilians in the Palestinian enclave are suffering from hunger and a grave shortage of medicines and other life necessities.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the resolution "entirely toothless" and accused the US of "shameful, cynical and irresponsible conduct" and resorting to tactics "of gross pressure, blackmail and twisting arms". He pointed out that the resolution essentially gives the Israeli armed forces "complete freedom of movement for the clearing of the Gaza Strip". That Israel's military on Friday ordered residents of Al-Bureij in central Gaza to move south immediately, indicating a new focus of the ground assault that has devastated much of the Strip, highlighted Nebenzia had hit the nail on the head.

The US has also helped Israel to defend the "defined redlines", including that Israel continuously maintain its authority to inspect aid entering Gaza, as Tel Aviv suspects the aid of containing military support to Hamas. No wonder, despite his predictable unhappiness over the resolution failing to condemn Hamas, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan thanked the US immediately following its adoption, for "standing on Israel's side".

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield hailed the US' abstaining as a stone killing three birds — easing the US' pressure by avoiding the third US veto of a UNSC resolution on Gaza, comforting the Arab states by showing Washington's "care" for the Palestinian civilians, and helping Israel by removing the call for a cease-fire.

The resolution will be nothing but a face-saving compromise if the conflicting parties do not "allow, facilitate and enable" the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip. And that won't happen unless there is a cease-fire.