UNSC to vote on new Gaza ceasefire resolution

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is once again seeking on Monday to adopt a text calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, a demand that the United States has hindered on several occasions, but it has recently shown signs of changing its tone with its ally Israel.

Russia and China used their veto power on Friday in the Security Council to reject a US resolution for the first time supporting an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza, linked to the release of hostages kidnapped during Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7th.

Some observers saw in this resolution a significant shift in Washington's position, which is under pressure to reduce its support for Israel at a time when the Israeli attack resulted in the death of 32,226 people in Gaza, according to the latest toll announced by Hamas' Health Ministry on Sunday.

The United States has systematically opposed the term "ceasefire" in United Nations resolutions and has blocked three texts related to this issue.

The US text, which was vetoed, did not explicitly call for an immediate ceasefire but used wording considered ambiguous by Arab states, China, and Russia, which denounced the "hypocrisy" of the United States.

The draft resolution to be put to a vote on Monday is the result of the work of non-permanent members of the Council who negotiated with the United States throughout the weekend to avoid another failure, according to diplomatic sources expressing some optimism about the outcome of the vote.

A diplomat told Agence France-Presse on Sunday, "We expect that the resolution will be adopted and that the United States will not vote against it unless there are any last-minute developments."

The latest version of the draft, seen by Agence France-Presse on Sunday, "calls for an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan," which began two weeks ago, "leading to a permanent ceasefire," as well as "calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."

The new draft resolution also calls for the "removal of all obstacles" to humanitarian aid, without which the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are at risk of famine.

Since October 7th, the deeply divided Security Council has only been able to adopt two humanitarian resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of eight projects put to a vote.

AFP