The United States, key allies and Arab nations engaged in high-level diplomacy in hopes of avoiding another US veto of a new UN resolution on desperately needed aid to Gaza ahead of a long-delayed vote now scheduled for Thursday morning.
The US has been struggling to change the text’s references to a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Gaza war. Another sticking point is the inspection of aid trucks into Gaza to ensure they are only carrying humanitarian goods. The current draft proposes a UN role, an idea Israel is likely to oppose.
US President Joe Biden told reporters on his way back from Milwaukee, Wisconsin late on Wednesday afternoon that “we’re negotiating right now at the UN the contours of a resolution that we may be able to agree to.”
Everyone wants to see a resolution that has impact and that is implementable on the ground
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which sponsored the Arab-backed resolution, said earlier that high-level discussions are under way to try to reach agreement on a text that can be adopted.
“Everyone wants to see a resolution that has impact and that is implementable on the ground,” she told reporters after the 15 council members held closed consultations early on Wednesday afternoon and agreed to the delay.
“We believe today, giving a little bit of space for additional diplomacy, could yield positive results.”
Anwar bans Israeli ships from Malaysian ports in new move for Palestinian cause
Anwar bans Israeli ships from Malaysian ports in new move for Palestinian cause
The vote – initially postponed from Monday and then pushed back to Tuesday and then Wednesday – is now expected on Thursday morning, said Ecuador’s UN Ambassador José Javier De La Gasca López-Domínguez, the current Security Council president.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would speak with his Egyptian and UAE counterparts to try to reach a consensus either late on Wednesday or early Thursday.
As part of the US push at the UN, Blinken spoke on Wednesday with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom and stressed the need for urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza, “the imperative of minimising civilian casualties,” and preventing further escalation of the conflict and “underscored the US commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Nusseibeh said the UAE is optimistic, but if the negotiations yield no results by Thursday “then we will assess in the council to proceed … to a vote on the resolution.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Gaza faces “a humanitarian catastrophe” and that a total collapse of the humanitarian support system would lead to “a complete breakdown of public order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt.”
The UN food agency reported last week that 56 per cent of Gaza’s households are experiencing “severe levels of hunger,” up from 38 per cent two weeks earlier.
The draft on the table on Monday morning called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” but this language was watered down in a new version that was to be put to a vote on Wednesday.
It would call “for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
That draft also calls for Guterres to quickly establish a mechanism for exclusive UN monitoring of aid deliveries to Gaza – bypassing the current Israeli inspection of aid entering the strip.
A council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions were private, said the US and Egypt are engaging directly to ensure any aid monitoring mechanism can work for everyone.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also raised two other issues on Wednesday morning that are not in the Arab-sponsored resolution – condemnation of Hamas’ deadly October 7 incursion into southern Israel that sparked the latest war and Israel’s right to self-defence.
The US on December 8 vetoed a Security Council resolution, backed by almost all other council members and dozens of other nations, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The 193-member General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a similar resolution on December 12 by a vote of 153-10, with 23 abstentions.
In its first unified 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.
Israel finds major Hamas tunnel near Gaza border
Israel finds major Hamas tunnel near Gaza border
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, though they are a significant barometer of world opinion.
Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, since the war started. 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 its Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more Palestinians lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the UN estimates.