Cleveland City Council passed a resolution Monday night backing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Coming after months of protests in council chambers, the move was a reversal of council’s earlier stance. In January, Council President Blaine Griffin had said that the body “does not feel we are in a position to issue a fair and unbiased ceasefire resolution.” 

The brief piece of legislation endorsed the ceasefire resolution that the United Nations Security Council passed earlier in the day. The United States abstained from the vote after vetoing previous measures. 

Cleveland City Council’s resolution condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which precipitated Israel’s airstrikes and ground invasion in Gaza. The resolution lent members’ support for a “halt to the fighting in Gaza and for the release of all hostages” taken from Israel on Oct. 7.

“Council and Clevelanders of all faiths and backgrounds have expressed profound concern for the innocent civilians suffering and are alarmed by the loss of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian and American lives due to the war in Gaza,” the resolution reads, “further this Council calls for international aid to go immediately and directly to the people of Gaza.”

Prior to the vote, public commenters again took to the microphone to press city officials on the issue. One commenter said Mayor Justin Bibb and others would face political consequences for not taking up a ceasefire measure. 

“Sorry guys, 2025 is coming,” he said, referring to the next municipal election year. “You’ve got to hold your seat real good, because you’re going to miss it after that.” 

The resolution passed with support from all 16 council members in attendance Monday night. A few people in the council chamber could be heard clapping after the clerk read the vote totals.

In a statement, the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the resolution “a testament to the people of Cleveland’s will and determination to speak out against injustice and inhumanity.” The chapter gave credit to the organizations that had lobbied council for months on a ceasefire statement. 

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland responded to the news in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. The statement called the timing of the resolution “hurtful,” coming after Hamas rejected a proposed hostage deal. 

“By not accurately reflecting those facts in the resolution it passed, Cleveland City Council has unintentionally given credence to the hateful rhetoric targeting the Jewish community that has overtaken the ‘public comments’ portion of the Council meetings each week since Hamas attacked Israel,” the statement read. 

The Associated Press reported that Hamas’ demands include a withdrawal of Israel’s forces from Gaza. 

Columbus City Council passed a ceasefire measure of its own on Monday.

This article was updated with comment from the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.