UNSC Passes Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

Yesterday evening the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an unconditional release of hostages.

This was the first time such a resolution passed the UNSC and marks a departure from Washington’s existing approach, given that the US did not exercise their veto and instead abstained. The other fourteen members of the UNSC voted in favour of resolution 2728 which had been proposed by the non-permanent members of the council: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Such a move is indicative of the gulf that has emerged between Israel and the US in relation to conduct in the conflict in Gaza. For example, Washington have recently tried to apply more pressure on Israel to ensure aid gets to refugees in Gaza and have criticised Israel over the increasing death toll in Gaza.

Officials from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the US had “abandoned” its commitment to ensuring that any resolution relating to a ceasefire was first contingent on the release of hostages. It’s understood that meetings between Israel and the US scheduled over the coming days have been cancelled.

Following the passing of the resolution, the US’ UNSC spokesman John Kirby said that “We have been very clear, we have been very consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal. That’s how the hostage deal is structured, and the resolution acknowledges the ongoing talks.”

As results from the Senegalese presidential Election come in, yesterday the country’s former Prime Minister Amadou Ba conceded defeat to Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

Faye now looks set to replace Senegal’s President Macky Sall after 12 years in the country’s highest office. Sall had been postponing the election causing widespread demonstrations but was ordered to hold the election by the Constitutional Court. The demonstrations come at of growing fragility for the country, which has often been seen as one of the most stable in the region. However, Senegal’s outgoing president has been at the centre of financial scandals and infringing on people’s civil liberties, not to mention wider socio-economic troubles.

Faye – who will become Senegal’s fifth president is a former tax inspector – has campaigned on a promise to boost the economy and crack down on corruption.

Today is a little light on primary data releases as markets continue to digest forward guidance from a string of central bank interest rate decisions last week. This morning, Spanish GDP came in line with expectations, hitting 0.6% on a Quarter-on-Quarter basis for Q4 2023, and coming in at 2% on an annualised basis. This morning also showed German consumer confidence picking up slightly better than expected as it came in at -27.4 pts. Later today, we will see the release of US durable goods orders along with US consumer confidence ahead of the ECB Philip Lane speaking at 19:00 this evening.