The UN security council has voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The fine print is here is  that the United States issuing a threat of veto, which in effect was pushing Israel to a corner of isolation on the world stage since the beginning of the war.

Though it was unimaginable a few months ago, the vote at the United Nations sets up  the strongest public clash between US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The text of the resolution, where the US abstained and 14 others voted in favour, pushed for  “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire”. It also demanded the release of hostages but did not make a truce dependent on them being freed. This is a significant departure from the previous position of the United States.

Upset over the development, Netanyahu alleged the US had “abandoned its policy in the UN” with Monday’s abstention, giving hope to Hamas of a truce without giving up its hostages, and therefore “harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages”.

It didn't end there.  Netanyahu’s office cancelled a visit to Washington by two of his ministers, intended to discuss a planned Israeli offensive on the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, which the US opposes.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, called the security council vote a belated “vote for humanity to prevail”.

Bringing a sigh of relief in many parts of the world, Hamas welcomed the resolution and said it stood ready for an immediate exchange of prisoners with Israel.

If Hamas sticks to this position, a breakthrough is expected in negotiations currently  under way in Doha among the  intelligence chiefs and other officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar to broker a possible deal that would involve the release of at least 40 of the estimated 130 hostages held by Hamas and thousands of Palestinians detailed by Israel.

In another sign of how tables have turned, the UK abstained on the three earlier ceasefire resolutions but voted in favour of Monday’s text