USA (Washington Insider Magazine)—The US government, with its key partners and Arab nations, is involved in high-level diplomatic efforts. It aimed to avoid another U.S. veto of a new U.N. resolution. Gaza gravelly required assistance ahead of a long-delayed vote now planned for Thursday. The U.S. has been working to alter the text’s references to an end to confrontations in the Israel-Hamas war. Another sticking issue is the assessment of help trucks in Gaza to ensure they only hold humanitarian goods. Israel will probably disagree with the recent draft offers a U.N. role.
U.S. President Joe Biden briefed reporters on his way back from Milwaukee. In late Wednesday afternoon, He said, “We’re negotiating right now at the U.N. the contours of a resolution that we may be able to agree to.” Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates supported the Arab-backed resolution. Earlier, she said that high-level talks are underway to agree on a text that can be adopted.
The vote was initially delayed from Monday and then moved back to Tuesday and Wednesday. It is hoped on Thursday morning, said Ecuador’s U.N. Ambassador José Javier De La Gasca López-Domínguez, the current Security Council president.
A U.S. government official spoke anonymously to discuss the sensitive diplomacy. He expressed that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would talk with his Egyptian and UAE counterparts. The discussion is about reaching a consensus either late Wednesday or early Thursday.
As part of the U.S. efforts at the U.N., Blinken expressed on Wednesday with his counterparts of France, Germany and the United Kingdom and emphasised the need for critical humanitarian assistance to Gaza, “the imperative of minimising civilian casualties” and preventing further escalation of the conflict and ”underscored the U.S. commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Further, Nusseibeh expressed the UAE is hopeful, but if the talks produce no outcome by Thursday, “then we will assess in the council to proceed … to a vote on the resolution.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has voiced Gaza faces “a humanitarian catastrophe” and that a total collapse of the humanitarian support system would lead to “a complete breakdown of public order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt.”
The U.N. food agency noted last week that 56% of Gaza’s families are undergoing “severe levels of hunger,” up from 38% last two weeks.
The draft on the table Monday morning required an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” but this language was damped down in a new arrangement to be voted on Wednesday. It would call “for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
That draft also seeks Guterres to develop a procedure for exclusive U.N. monitoring of assistance deliveries to Gaza. It must dodge the current Israeli assessment of aid entering the strip.
Moreover, a council diplomat stated that the U.S. and Egypt are engaging directly to guarantee any aid inspection procedure can work for everyone. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also presented two other matters on Wednesday morning. That points are not in the Arab-sponsored resolution. It includes Condemnation of Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
Earlier, The U.S. on Dec. 8, vetoed a Security Council resolution. It was supported by almost all other council members and dozens of other nations. It demanded a quick humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The 193-member General Assembly endorsed a similar resolution on Dec. 12 by a vote of 153-10, with 23 abstentions.
In its first collective effort on Nov. 15, with the U.S. abstaining, the Security Council adopted a resolution. It called for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, rampant aid supplies to civilians and the unconditional release of all captives.
Security Council resolutions are crucial because they are legally binding. However, in reality, many nations ignore the council’s requests for motion. On the contrary, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. However, they are an effective barometer of world opinion.
According to reports, Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been shot dead since the war started. During the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and brought about 240 captives back to Gaza. Hamas holds the Gaza Strip, and its Health Ministry does not determine between civilian and fighter deaths. U.N. assesses that thousands more Palestinians lie concealed under the ruins of Gaza.
