At UN, Trump envoy avoids criticizing Israel, says US committed to entire Gaza truce deal

US President Donald Trump’s administration is “strongly committed” to implementing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal, its envoy tells the UN Security Council, in one of its firmest statements yet in support of implementing all three stages of the agreement, amid calls from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners to resume the war after the first phase ends next month.

“The United States is strongly committed to implementing the ceasefire agreement, so that the hostages can return home and the people of Gaza can look toward a brighter future under new leadership,” US Chargé d ‘Affairs ad interim Dorothy Shea says in her remarks during the Security Council’s monthly session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff have also spoken about the importance of returning all of the hostages, but the former has also said he’s not confident the ceasefire will hold.

Netanyahu says he has received assurances from Trump that the US will back Israel in resuming the war if Hamas violates the terms of the ceasefire or stops negotiating in good faith regarding the terms of the second phase.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has suggested the premier has given him an assurance to resume fighting that isn’t conditional on whether Hamas violates the deal.

Shea — who is part of an interim staff running the US Mission to the UN until Trump’s nominee Rep. Elise Stefanik is confirmed by the Senate — is careful not to criticize Israel in her remarks or even suggest that Netanyahu is not supportive of sticking with the hostage deal.

Overall, the speech is a clear departure from the previous administration of Joe Biden, which also consistently sought to defend Israel at the UN, but did so while criticizing Israeli policy in the West Bank and for not doing enough to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and sometimes even exacerbating it.

Shea avoids criticizing Israel altogether, placing all of the onus for civilian casualties on Hamas.