The UN Security Council is waiting for the position of the United States to try again today, Thursday, to speak with one voice through a vote that was postponed several times on a draft resolution aimed at increasing aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Council, which has faced widespread criticism for its failure to act since the beginning of the war between the Palestinian resistance – led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – and Israel, has been witnessing arduous negotiations on this text, which was presented by the United Arab Emirates, for days.
The vote, which was scheduled for Monday, was postponed several times, most recently yesterday, Wednesday, at the request of the Americans, who used their veto on December 8 against a previous text calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, which is being bombed by Israeli forces. .
The text calls, in particular, on “parties to the conflict” to facilitate the entry and distribution of aid throughout the sector “by land, sea and air,” and asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a follow-up mechanism to confirm the “humanitarian” nature of the conflict.
The draft resolution condemns “all indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and “all terrorist acts” and calls for the release of hostages.
The UAE Ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, said yesterday, Wednesday, that countries are “working at the highest level of diplomacy to reach a text that will have an impact on the ground,” noting that “diplomacy takes time.”
She added, “If this fails, we will continue trying… There is great suffering on the ground, and the Council cannot continue to fail in this regard.”
Since the beginning of the war, the Council has been able to break its silence only once, when it called in its resolution last November 15 for “humanitarian truces.”
American opposition
Five other texts were rejected within two months, two of them due to an American veto, the last of which was on December 8th.
The United States – despite unprecedented pressure from the Secretary-General of the United Nations – prevented the call for a “humanitarian ceasefire.”
This possibility was ruled out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Wednesday, again “until the elimination” of Hamas, as he said.
As the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, most Council members appear keen to avoid a new veto.
Diplomatic sources reported that, for example, the reference to an “urgent and permanent cessation of hostilities” was deleted at the request of the Americans.
Israel, with the support of its ally the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power, opposes the term “ceasefire.”
A diplomatic source said that the latest postponement came at the request of the United States.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the United States continues to engage intensively and constructively with a number of countries, to try to resolve some of the outstanding issues regarding the Security Council resolution on Gaza.
Blinken added at the annual end-of-year press conference that Washington supports facilitating the arrival of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He pointed out that the humanitarian issue was the point of contention, with Israel insisting on full control over the supplies entering the Gaza Strip, and said, “The goal of the resolution, as the countries that presented it said: is to facilitate the entry and expansion of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We fully support that.”