US to bring Security Council motion for Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to vote Friday
Reuters says draft calls for ‘immediate and sustained ceasefire’ lasting six weeks linked to captives’ release; EU issues similar call for pause to fighting, warns against Rafah op
The United States, which has repeatedly blocked calls for a permanent ceasefire to end the Gaza war, will submit a draft resolution urging “an immediate ceasefire” linked to the release of the hostages held by Hamas, the US representative said Thursday.
The US resolution, which will be put to vote on Friday, “will unequivocally support ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at securing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal,” Nate Evans, spokesman for US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in a statement.
The measure “is an opportunity for the Council to speak with one voice to support the diplomacy happening on the ground and pressure Hamas to accept the deal on the table,” Evans added.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken similarly described the US draft resolution as calling for “an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages.”
The resolution marks a further toughening of Washington’s stance toward Israel. Earlier in the five-month-long war, the US was averse to the word ceasefire and vetoed measures that included calls for an immediate ceasefire.
The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, says an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” lasting roughly six weeks would protect civilians and allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The text backs talks brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar over a ceasefire and emphasizes support for using the period of a truce to intensify efforts in pursuit of “lasting peace.”
Since blocking an Algerian draft resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza at the end of February, US officials have been negotiating an alternative text focusing on support for diplomatic efforts on the ground for a six-week truce in exchange for the release of hostages.
According to diplomatic sources, this text had little chance of gaining the Council’s approval and a new version was circulated to Security Council members on Wednesday.
An alternative draft resolution is also under discussion and could also be put to a vote on Friday, according to a diplomatic source.
Supported by several of the nonpermanent members of the Council, it “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the month of Ramadan,” according to the text seen by AFP.
Ramadan began on March 10 and ends on April 9.
At the same time, European Union leaders called on Thursday for an “immediate” humanitarian pause in Gaza that would lead to a ceasefire.
The EU’s 27 leaders also called for “the unconditional release of all hostages.” The European Council “urges the Israeli government not to undertake a ground operation in Rafah,” they added in their conclusions.
During the five-month-long war, Washington has vetoed three draft resolutions at the UNSC, 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 war broke out after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 and abducted 253 — half of whom are still held captive in Gaza. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities. Hamas says some 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza — an unverifiable toll that does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel says the IDF has killed over 13,000 gunmen from Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza, as well as 1,000 inside Israel on October 7. Some 250 IDF soldiers have been killed in the Gaza fighting.
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.
An impending operation in Rafah, which Israel says is necessary to dismantle Hamas’s last four untackled battalions, has emerged as a point of contention between Israel and its allies, who claim such an operation could cause an unmitigated humanitarian disaster. Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, is currently home to over a million people displaced from the Strip’s north and center, and is a hub for aid distribution in the famine-stricken enclave.
Israel has said it is preparing a plan to protect the civilians and will enact it before launching a military assault.
