The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote calling for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid has been postponed for the third day in a row.
The delays come as the UN chief sounded the alarm over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave, which has faced incessant Israeli bombardment since October 7. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands more are starving because of an Israeli blockade.
Here is a summary of developments surrounding the draft resolution:
What is the draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Gaza led by the United Arab Emirates?
The United Arab Emirates released a “final version” of a draft resolution on Friday evening. The first version of the draft was distributed on December 8 after the United States vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In short, here is what Friday’s draft recommended:
- All parties to the conflict must respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians, hospitals, United Nations facilities and humanitarian and medical personnel.
- An urgent and lasting cessation of hostilities should take place alongside the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
- Parties to the conflict should authorize and facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza by land, sea and air. This includes the rapid implementation of the opening of the Karem Abu Salem border crossing, called Kerem Shalom in Hebrew.
- States which are not parties to the conflict are invited to authorize the free passage of humanitarian aid. This particularly concerns Egypt and the coordination of its border post with Gaza, in the town of Rafah, south of Gaza. The UN will exclusively monitor all aid entering through these routes.
The project now looks very different after several modifications. The revisions are due to a diplomatic back-and-forth that has been going on for days. The draft was watered down to ensure compromise and is still awaiting a vote.
NEW: @UAEMissionToUN releases the final version of #UNSC draft resolution aimed at intensifying #Gaza humanitarian aid. The draft resolution demands that the parties authorize/facilitate the use of all land, sea and air routes to and throughout the Gaza Strip, including border crossings and… pic.twitter.com/IWKpKbuzJw
– Rami Ayari (@Raminho) December 16, 2023
The latest draft also calls for an “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” The report from the Security Council, an independent think tank that monitors the U.N. Security Council, said the language was added following requests from several members, including France, Japan, the United Kingdom United and the United States.
Monday’s developments
The draft distributed on Friday should be voted on on Monday, depending on negotiations between the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
“We have engaged constructively and transparently throughout the process with the goal of uniting around a product that will be adopted,” an unnamed U.S. official told the Reuters news agency. “The UAE knows exactly what can be adopted and what cannot. It’s up to them if they want to achieve this.
The resolution presented by the United Arab Emirates on December 8 called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and was vetoed by the United States while the United Kingdom abstained. The other 13 members of the Security Council voted in favor. The negotiations that followed were intended to ensure that the United States would no longer veto the resolution.
Diplomats reported that the United States wanted to soften its rhetoric on the cessation of hostilities.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Rami Ayari reported that the vote was pushed back to a later date on Monday and that he was told that “cessation” would be replaced with “suspension” after the United States objected to that wording.
The Security Council report adds that the UK requested to replace the “immediate” cessation of hostilities with language calling for an “urgent and lasting” cessation of hostilities. Terms calling for “an urgent and lasting cessation of hostilities” appeared in the draft presented on Friday.
Ayari later reported that the vote had been pushed back to Tuesday morning to allow more time for negotiations. “The United States wants to avoid resorting to its veto again, according to several sources,” wrote the Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent.
Diplomats say that #UNSC vote on the #Gaza The draft resolution on aid and monitoring has now been postponed until tomorrow morning (December 19) to allow more time for negotiations. This comes after @USUN objected to the reference to “cessation of hostilities” in the text. This can be replaced with “suspension…
– Rami Ayari (@Raminho) December 18, 2023
Tuesday’s developments
On Tuesday, an updated draft was released and the term “cessation” was replaced with “suspension.”
Furthermore, the clause discussing UN aid monitoring initially stipulated that the UN would inform the Palestinian Authority and Israel of the humanitarian nature of the aid without prejudice to inspections carried out outside Gaza by states that are not parties to the conflict. In the new version, it adds that the UN would inform the authorities without prejudice of any inspection that would not unduly delay the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Akbar Shahid Ahmad, HuffPost’s senior foreign affairs reporter, published on X that a Muslim diplomat said a U.S. veto was likely.
Ayari reported that Washington remained steadfast despite the revisions, and that the vote was further postponed until Wednesday morning.
The Security Council report states that during the negotiations, “the United States apparently objected to references to Israel as an ‘occupying power’ and to language that Washington believed could be interpreted as imposing binding legal obligations under of the Charter of the United Nations.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would welcome a resolution that fully supported addressing the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, but that the details of the text were important.
Wednesday’s developments
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield reportedly met with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
Ahmad posted on X that a diplomat told him that Israel was heavily involved in US decision-making regarding aid inspections. It also reported that Biden on Thursday asked the US mission to the UN to veto a Security Council resolution on Gaza, according to a diplomat.
He added that the diplomat said the main sticking point for Biden was transferring control of aid inspections to the UN, “a move the United States has pushed for in other war zones” .
PassBlue, an independent organization that monitors the UN, posted on X that US diplomats were OK with UN monitoring of aid until Israel realized this.
USUN diplomats apparently agreed with this paragraph in the Gaza draft text, until #Israel I saw it.
Israel wants to keep full control of humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza– PassBlue (@pass_blue) December 20, 2023
Ayari said there was a perception among some that repeated delays in voting were due to attempts to win over Biden. “These efforts appear to have failed,” he said.
The Security Council report also reported that part of the negotiations involved other member states suggesting ways to make the aid monitoring system faster so that it does not add an extra layer to the aid to Gaza.
The United States came back with a rewrite that essentially removed the UN aid monitoring mechanism.
The vote on the resolution was further postponed until Thursday.
Thursday’s outlook
The UAE Ambassador to the UN, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, expressed optimism that the resolution would be adopted.
“I’m optimistic, and if it fails, then we’ll keep trying because we have to keep trying,” Nusseibeh told reporters. “There is too much suffering on the ground for the council to continue to fail on this. … We have a resolve and we must build on it.
Ayari wrote on X that Arab countries and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation had proposed new language to the United States on UN aid oversight.
They are waiting for Washington’s response, but “the first signals are not good. If there had been an agreement, the updated text would have already been distributed to #UNSC members,” Ayari said.
It’s late and I’m going to sleep soon but here is the progress of the negotiations concerning the #UNSC draft resolution on #Gaza intensification of aid. Following Blinken’s calls with his Egyptian and Emirati counterparts, the ambassadors of the three countries attempted to resolve the…
– Rami Ayari (@Raminho) December 21, 2023
Ahmad said a diplomat said the likelihood of the United States vetoing the resolution on Thursday morning remains high.
To pass, the resolution must vote in favor of at least nine of the 15 members of the Security Council and none of the permanent members – the United States, France, China, the United Kingdom and Russia – vetoes it.