UN Security Council set to vote today on Israel-Hamas war resolution calling for ‘pauses’

The UN Security Council, which has been unable to reach consensus since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, is set to vote today on a draft resolution calling for “extended humanitarian pauses” in the fighting in Gaza.

The new text, prepared by Malta, appears to have a good chance of being adopted by the council. Diplomats say members waited to schedule a vote until they were relatively sure of success.

Following the October 7 Hamas onslaught against southern Israel, the council tried — in vain — to adopt a resolution of some kind. But four drafts failed in October, exposing the body’s long-held divisions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Russia and China on one side and the United States on the other.

The Security Council launched new talks on a resolution, but those negotiations got bogged down on the wording to be used to call for a stop, however brief, to the fighting.

The United States opposed any use of the term “ceasefire,” diplomats say. Other terms floated were “truce” and “pause.”