America is locked in talks with allies and Arab nations to agree on the terms for a Gaza ceasefire to get more aid in to the strip
The United States, key allies and Arab countries engaged in high-level diplomacy in hopes of avoiding another U.S. veto of a new U.N. resolution on much-needed aid to Gaza, ahead of a long-delayed vote now scheduled for Thursday morning.
The US has made efforts to change the text's references to a cessation of hostilities in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Another sticking point is the inspection of aid trucks to Gaza to ensure they are only carrying humanitarian goods. The current draft proposes a UN role, an idea Israel is likely to oppose.
President Joe Biden told reporters on his way back from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday afternoon that “we are currently negotiating at the UN the outlines of a resolution that we may be able to agree to.”
United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, who supported the Arab-backed resolution, said earlier that high-level talks were underway to agree on a text that could be adopted.
President Joe Biden told reporters on his way back from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, late Wednesday afternoon that negotiations for a ceasefire are underway at the U.N.
One of the sticking points in the negotiations is the protocol for searching Gaza-bound trucks to ensure they are only carrying humanitarian goods
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on December 20, as the Jewish State continues to bomb the region in the wake of Hamas' attack on October 7
“Everyone wants to see a resolution that has an impact and that can be implemented in practice,” she told reporters after the fifteen council members held closed consultations early on Wednesday afternoon and agreed to the postponement.
“We believe that allowing a little bit of room for additional diplomacy today could yield positive results.”
The vote – initially postponed until Monday and then postponed to Tuesday and Wednesday – is now expected on Thursday morning, said Ecuador's UN Ambassador José Javier De La Gasca López-Domínguez, the current president of the Security Council.
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would speak with his Egyptian and UAE counterparts to try to reach a consensus either late Wednesday or early Thursday .
Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain on Wednesday and stressed the need for urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The need to minimize civilian casualties” and prevent further escalation of the conflict “underscored the U.S. commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. Affairs.
Nusseibeh said the UAE is optimistic, but if negotiations do not yield results on Thursday “then we will assess in the council whether we can proceed to a vote on the resolution.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said that Gaza is facing “a humanitarian catastrophe” and that a total collapse of the humanitarian aid system would lead to “a complete collapse of law and order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt.”
Destroyed buildings lie in ruins in the Gaza Strip
The UN food agency reported last week that 56 percent of households in Gaza are experiencing 'severe famine', up from 38 percent two weeks earlier
Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza's health ministry
The UN Food Agency reported last week that 56 percent of households in Gaza are experiencing “severe hunger,” up from 38 percent two weeks earlier.
The draft tabled Monday morning called for an “urgent and lasting cessation of hostilities,” but this language was toned down in a new version set to be voted on Wednesday.
It would call for “an urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a lasting cessation of hostilities.”
That draft also calls on Guterres to quickly set up a mechanism for exclusive UN monitoring of aid deliveries to Gaza – bypassing the current Israeli inspection of aid entering the Gaza Strip.
A council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private, said the US and Egypt are directly committed to ensuring that any aid monitoring mechanism can work for everyone.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also raised two other issues Wednesday morning not included in the Arab-sponsored resolution: condemnation of the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas raid on southern Israel that prompted for the last war, and Israel's right to self-defense. .
The US vetoed a Security Council resolution on December 8, supported by almost all other council members and dozens of other countries, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
The 193-member General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a similar resolution on December 12, with 153 votes to 10 and 23 abstentions.
In its first joint action on November 15, with the US abstaining, the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, unhindered aid deliveries to civilians and the unconditional release of all hostages.
Security Council resolutions are important because they are legally binding, but in practice many parties choose to ignore the Council's requests for action.
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, although they provide an important barometer of global opinion.
Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza's health ministry. During the October 7 attack, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took about 240 hostages back to Gaza.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and the Ministry of Health does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more Palestinians are buried under the rubble of Gaza, the UN estimates.