UNITED NATIONS — The United States on Tuesday revised language in a draft United Nations Security Council resolution to back “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six-weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages,” according to the text seen by Reuters.
The third revision of the text — first proposed by the US two weeks ago — now reflects blunt remarks made by US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday. The initial US draft had shown support for “a temporary ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war.
The US wants any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages abducted by Hamas to Gaza on October 7, when thousands of gunmen led by the Palestinian terror group stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and kidnap another 253.
Washington had been averse to the word “ceasefire.” It has vetoed three draft council resolutions — two of which would have demanded an immediate ceasefire — during the five-month-long war. Most recently, the US noted that such council action could jeopardize efforts by the US, Egypt and Qatar to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages.
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday it was in the hands of Hamas whether to accept a deal for a ceasefire, as delegations held a third day of talks in Cairo with no sign of a breakthrough.
The US traditionally shields Israel at the United Nations, 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.
In response to the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel launched a ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages, which has seen about half the Strip’s residences destroyed, displacing over a million people, many of whom face severe risk of starvation.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 30,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some 13,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 gunmen inside Israel on October 7.
Washington has been stepping up pressure on its ally Israel to do more to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the UN has warned that a quarter of the 2.3 million people in the enclave are on the brink of famine.
The US has said it plans to allow time for negotiations on its draft and will not rush to a vote. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China.