Russia and China raised concerns yesterday, Thursday, about a US draft resolution submitted to the UN Security Council that supports a proposal by President Joe Biden for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and Israel also announced its rejection of the draft resolution.
Diplomats said that Algeria – the only Arab country member of the Council – also indicated its unwillingness to support the text.
The decision requires the approval of at least 9 votes and the permanent members of the Council not to use their veto power. These countries are the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia.
A week ago, Biden announced a three-stage plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which he described as an Israeli initiative. The plan includes an “exchange of prisoners” in the first and second stages, in addition to “sustaining the ceasefire” in the second stage, and “reconstructing Gaza” in the third stage. .
The United States is seeking international support for the proposal, which is still being studied by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and distributed a one-page draft resolution to the 15-member Security Council last Monday and an amended version yesterday, Thursday.
The amended draft – seen by Reuters – welcomes the ceasefire proposal and describes it as “acceptable” to Israel, “and calls on Hamas to also accept it, and urges both parties to fully implement its provisions without delay or condition.”
It contained some details of the proposal, such as a “complete and comprehensive ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip within the framework of the first phase, and a “permanent cessation of hostilities” in the second phase “based on the agreement of the two parties.”
But diplomats said some council members have raised questions about whether Israel has actually accepted the plan, and want the council to adhere to a demand it issued in March for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously announced his rejection of Biden’s proposal, and said that he did not agree to end the war in the second phase of the proposal, and insisted “not to end the war on Gaza until all its goals are achieved.”
Russian modifications
Russia proposed amendments to the American text – seen by Reuters – that include calling on both Hamas and Israel to accept the proposal and demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire to which all parties are committed.
Moscow also wants the draft to confirm that the first phase of the ceasefire will remain in place as long as negotiations on the second phase continue, which is in line with statements made by Biden last week.
For months, negotiators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a ceasefire, and Hamas says it wants a permanent end to the war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip, which has a population of 2.2 million people.
Israeli refusal
For its part, Israel rejected the American draft resolution on Gaza, which it submitted to the Security Council last Monday, before American media reported that Washington had handed over to the Security Council a modified version of it yesterday, Thursday.
The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said on its website that Tel Aviv’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, informed his American counterpart, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, of Israel’s opposition to the proposed draft resolution.
According to the broadcaster, the latest version of the draft resolution shows “a change in the American position toward Israel.”
The Commission explained that the final text of the project “calls on Hamas and Israel to implement the proposal without delay and without conditions,” while “a previous draft of the project called only on Hamas to accept the proposal.”
The latest version of the project also stated that the United States “opposes any attempt to change demographics or the status quo in Gaza,” according to the broadcasting organization.
Yesterday, Thursday, Hamas announced that it was still studying the American proposal, and confirmed through the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, that the movement and the resistance factions would deal seriously and positively with any agreement on the basis of a comprehensive cessation of aggression, complete withdrawal, and prisoner exchange.