US to bring Security Council motion for Gaza truce and hostage deal to a vote Friday

The United States, which has repeatedly blocked calls for a truce in Gaza, will submit a draft resolution urging “an immediate ceasefire” linked to the release of the hostages held by Hamas, the US representative said Thursday.

The US resolution, which will be put to vote on Friday, “will unequivocally support ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at securing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal,” Nate Evans, spokesman for US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in a statement.

The measure “is an opportunity for the Council to speak with one voice to support the diplomacy happening on the ground and pressure Hamas to accept the deal on the table,” Evans added.

The US, Israel’s main backer, has previously used its United Nations Security Council veto to block the world body from calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

Since blocking an Algerian draft resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza at the end of February, US officials have been negotiating an alternative text focusing on support for diplomatic efforts on the ground for a six-week truce in exchange for the release of hostages.

An alternative draft resolution is also under discussion and could also be put to a vote on Friday, according to a diplomatic source.

Supported by several of the nonpermanent members of the Council, it “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the month of Ramadan,” according to the text seen by AFP.

Ramadan began on March 10 and ends on April 9.

At the same time, European Union leaders called on Thursday for an “immediate” humanitarian pause in Gaza that would lead to a ceasefire.

The EU’s 27 leaders also called for “the unconditional release of all hostages.” The European Council “urges the Israeli government not to undertake a ground operation in Rafah,” they added in their conclusions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center left, speaks with from left, Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer during a round table meeting at an EU Summit in Brussels, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

During the five-month-long war, Washington has vetoed three draft resolutions at the UNSC, two of which would have demanded an immediate ceasefire. Most recently, the US justified its veto by saying such council action could jeopardize efforts by the US, Egypt and Qatar to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages.

The US traditionally shields Israel at the UN, but it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting.

File: US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield casts a veto vote during a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war, at UN Headquarters in New York City on February 20, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

An impending operation in Rafah, which Israel says is necessary to dismantle Hamas, has emerged as a point of contention between Israel and its allies, who claim such an operation could cause an unmitigated humanitarian disaster. Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, is currently home to over a million people displaced from the Strip’s north and center, and is a hub for aid distribution in the famine-stricken enclave.

Israel has said it is preparing a plan to protect the civilians and will enact it before launching a military assault.