Blinken: US circulated draft UN Security Council resolution calling for ‘immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages’

The United States has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages” in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.

“Well, in fact, we actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that’s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that,” Blinken says.

“I think that would send a strong message, a strong signal,” he tells Saudi media outlet Al Hadath during a visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7 attack.

Washington had previously been averse to the word “ceasefire.”

During the five-month-long war, it has vetoed three draft resolutions, two of which would have demanded an immediate ceasefire. Most recently, the US justified its veto by saying such council action could jeopardize efforts by the US, Egypt and Qatar to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages.

The US traditionally shields Israel at the UN, but it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting.