The UN Security Council was yesterday to vote on a new draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, despite threat of a third US veto on such a text.
The document, prepared by Algeria, “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties.”
The vote comes as Israel prepares to move into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million people have fled, as part of its mission to destroy Hamas.
Photo: Reuters
However, it is facing increased pressure to hold off, including from its closest ally, the US.
The draft resolution opposes the “forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population.”
It also demands the release of all Hamas hostages.
Similarly to other previous drafts spurned by the US and Israel, the new text does not condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault. That attack left about 1,160 people dead in southern Israel, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally of official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
The US warned over the weekend that Algeria’s text was not acceptable, threatening to veto it.
“We don’t believe that this council product will help the situation on the ground,” US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said on Monday. “If this resolution does come to a vote, it will not go forward.”
The passage of such a ceasefire resolution would endanger ongoing delicate diplomatic negotiations, which could see the release of hostages from Gaza, Wood said.
The US instead began circulating an alternate draft on Monday. While that text does include the word “ceasefire” — which the US has previously avoided, vetoing two drafts in October and December which used the term — it does not call for the end of hostilities to happen immediately.
Echoing recent comments by US President Joe Biden, the US draft supports a “temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released.”
It also mentions concern for Rafah, stating that “a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.”
There is no “deadline” for a vote on the US draft, a senior US official said, adding that there would be no “rush.”
However, even if there is no hurry, the US text “as it is ... cannot pass,” one diplomatic source said, citing several issues around the phrasing of “ceasefire” and the risk that any text introduced to the 15-member body by the US might face a veto from Russia.
In any case, the mere fact the US has introduced a counter-resolution is likely to “make Israel nervous,” International Crisis Group analyst Richard Gowan said.
“The US is finally using the Security Council as a platform to signal the limits of its patience with the Israeli campaign,” Gowan said.
Despite the specter of a US veto, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN Riyad Mansour had insisted on a vote days ago, saying that the Arab Group had been “more than generous to give our colleagues additional time.”
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