©Reuters. Palestinians carry bags of flour from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint, as Gaza residents face critical levels of hunger, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Kosay Al Nemer/file Ph
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States has proposed an alternative draft U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and opposing a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, south of Gaza, according to text seen by Reuters. on Monday.
Washington has been opposed to the word ceasefire in any UN action on the war between Israel and Hamas, but the draft US text echoes language President Joe Biden said he used last week in conversations with the prime minister Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US draft text “establishes that under the current circumstances a major ground offensive on Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement, including potentially to neighboring countries.”
Israel plans to storm Rafah, where more than 1 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have sought refuge, sparking international concern that such a move would dramatically worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The American draft resolution states that such a move “would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore emphasizes that such a large ground offensive should not proceed under the current circumstances.”
It was not immediately clear when or whether the draft resolution would be put to a vote by the 15-member council. To be adopted, a resolution requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China.
The United States presented the text after Algeria on Saturday asked the Council to vote on its draft resolution on Tuesday, which would call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield immediately signaled that it would be vetoed.
REJECT THE BUFFER ZONE
Algeria presented a first draft resolution more than two weeks ago. But Thomas-Greenfield said the text could jeopardize “sensitive negotiations” over hostages. The United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar are trying to negotiate a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from UN action and has twice vetoed council resolutions since October 7. But he also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to increase aid to Gaza and called for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in the fighting. .
The draft American text would condemn calls by some Israeli government ministers for Jewish settlers to move into Gaza and reject any attempts at demographic or territorial changes in Gaza that would violate international law.
The resolution would also reject “any action by any party that reduces the territory of Gaza, on a temporary or permanent basis, including through the official or unofficial creation of so-called buffer zones, as well as the widespread and systematic demolition of civilian infrastructure.”
Reuters reported in December that Israel has told several Arab states it wants to carve out a buffer zone within Gaza’s borders to prevent attacks as part of proposals for the enclave after the war ends.
The war began when fighters from the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In retaliation, Israel launched a military attack on Gaza that health authorities say has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians and thousands more bodies are feared missing in the ruins.
In December, more than three-quarters of the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly voted to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view of the war.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has long called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. UN aid chief Martin Griffith warned last week that military operations in Rafah “could lead to a massacre”.