Gaza: US wants Security Council to support truce plan

The United States announced on Monday a draft UN Security Council resolution to support the Gaza ceasefire agreement presented by President Joe Biden and call on Hamas to accept it.

“Today, the United States circulated a new draft Security Council resolution supporting the proposal on the table to stop the fighting in Gaza through an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.

“Many leaders and governments, including in the region, have supported this plan and we call on the Security Council to join them in calling for the implementation of this plan without delay and without new conditions,” he said. -she adds.

“The Security Council must insist on the fact that Hamas must accept this plan,” she stressed, estimating that the members of the Council already agree with the main lines of the agreement: release of the hostages, ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid, long-term reconstruction of Gaza.

“Council members must not let this opportunity pass. We must speak with one voice to support this agreement.”

The draft text seen by AFP “welcomes the agreement announced on May 31 and calls on Hamas to accept it completely and to apply its terms without delay and without conditions.”

He notes that its “rapid” application would allow “a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza, the release of hostages, an increase in humanitarian aid, the restoration of basic services and the return Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza.

He also supports the two-state solution and emphasizes “the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority.”

No votes scheduled

The US president on Friday outlined what he called Israel's three-phase plan to end the war, secure the release of all hostages and rebuild the ravaged Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, however, reacted by declaring that Israel was determined to continue the war until Hamas was eliminated. But on Monday, the White House and Joe Biden indicated that the adoption of the plan now depended only on Hamas.

Last week, Algeria circulated a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli offensive in Rafah, highlighting the order to this effect from the International Court of Justice.

The United States then estimated that such a text “would not help”, still favoring negotiations on the ground to achieve a truce.

No vote is scheduled at this stage on either draft resolution.

Since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 against Israel and the Israeli reprisals in Gaza, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice.

After two resolutions mainly focused on humanitarian aid, at the end of March he finally demanded an “immediate ceasefire” for the duration of Ramadan; a call previously blocked several times by the United States, which this time abstained.