Eyeing a prospective Israel-Hamas truce deal in Qatar, the US draft resolution does not explicitly demand a ceasefire now
\n United Nations
\nThe United States has circulated a draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an \u201cimmediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages\u201d in Gaza, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who is on a tour of the Middle East.
\nIsrael\u2019s key political and military backer has repeatedly vetoed previous UNSC votes on ending the nearly six-month war, objecting as recently as February to the use of the term \u201cimmediate\u201d in a draft submitted by Algeria.
\nIn recent weeks, however, it has upped the pressure on Israel while insisting that Hamas fighters must immediately release the captives seized during its October 7 attacks on Israel.
\n\u201cWell, in fact, we actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that\u2019s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that,\u201d Blinken said in Saudi Arabia.
\n\u201cI think that would send a strong message, a strong signal,\u201d he told Saudi media outlet Al Hadath on Wednesday.
\n\u201cOf course, we stand with Israel and its right to defend itself \u2026 but at the same time, it\u2019s imperative that the civilians who are in harm\u2019s way and who are suffering so terribly \u2013 that we focus on them, that we make them a priority, protecting the civilians, getting them humanitarian assistance,\u201d Blinken said.
\nA copy of the new draft resolution, obtained by Al Jazeera, reads: \u201cThe Security Council determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, and alleviate humanitarian suffering and towards that end unequivocally supports ongoing international diplomatic efforts to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.\u201d
\nAl Jazeera\u2019s Diplomatic Editor James Bays said while the development \u201csounds very important\u201d, the \u201cexact language\u201d of the resolution is crucial, adding that what the US was actually demanding was ambiguous.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s certainly the strongest language yet, but is it what the rest of the Security Council wants in terms of a demand for an immediate ceasefire? Or is it just a resolution where the Security Council would say an immediate ceasefire is something that\u2019s very important?\u201d he said.
\nNo vote has yet been scheduled on this text.
\nIn February, the US was the only country to vote against the draft \u2013 its third such veto \u2013 while the United Kingdom abstained.
\nFor a UNSC resolution to be adopted, it requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by any of the five permanent members: the US, UK, France, Russia or China.
\nLinda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said then that her country was vetoing the resolution over concerns it would jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that were seeking to broker a pause in the war and the release of captives held in Gaza.
\nTalks for a ceasefire deal were continuing in Qatar this week following failed attempts to secure an agreement before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
\nQatari officials said they were \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d after discussions with Israel\u2019s intelligence chief in Doha, although Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that an Israeli ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza would set back any talks.
\nBays also said this was \u201cnot the only draft resolution that\u2019s floating around\u201d.
\n\u201cThe language of other resolutions that the US has vetoed have demanded a ceasefire. This one uses the words, \u2018determines the imperative\u2019, so it says it is important that there is a ceasefire. It is not really demanding one now,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cMy suspicion is that what the US is trying to do is have this resolution ready while the talks continue in Doha \u2013 the idea being that you get some sort of deal in Doha for a ceasefire and a release of the captives, and then you pass this resolution in the Security Council. That, I think, is the timing but we\u2019ll need more clarity.\u201d
\nBlinken is on his sixth tour to the Middle East since Israel\u2019s war on Gaza began. He already met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
\nOn Thursday, he is due to meet foreign ministers from Egypt, Qatar and Jordan in Cairo, as well as the Emirati international cooperation minister and the general secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization\u2019s (PLO) executive committee, according to the Egyptian foreign ministry.
\nBlinken is expected in Israel on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eyeing a prospective Israel-Hamas truce deal in Qatar, the US draft resolution does not explicitly demand a ceasefire now United Nations The United States has circulated a draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an \u201cimmediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages\u201d in Gaza, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-395462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n