The UN Security Council will try again, this Monday, to adopt a text demanding an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, a call blocked several times by the United States which, however, recently showed signs of signs of a change in tone towards their Israeli ally.
Also readResolution for a truce in Gaza: after the Chinese and Russian vetoes, the Security Council condemned to paralysis?
On Friday, Russia and China vetoed a draft US resolution emphasizing the "need" for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza in connection with negotiations for the release of hostages captured during the bloody and unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 on Israeli soil.
Wording considered ambiguous
Some observers saw this as a substantial shift in Washington's position, under pressure to limit its support for Israel as the Israeli offensive has left more than 32,000 dead in Gaza, according to the Hamas health ministry.
The United States had until then systematically opposed the term “ceasefire” in UN resolutions, blocking three texts to this effect.
But the rejected American text did not explicitly call for an immediate ceasefire, using wording considered ambiguous by Arab countries, China and Russia, which denounced the "hypocritical spectacle" of the United States.
The draft resolution which must be put to a vote on Monday is the result of the work of the non-permanent members of the Council, who negotiated all weekend with the United States to try to avoid another failure, according to diplomatic sources. who expressed a certain optimism about the outcome of the vote.
“We expect, barring a last-minute twist, that the resolution will be adopted and that the United States will not vote against it,” a diplomat told AFP on Sunday.
Unconditional release of hostages
The latest version seen on Sunday by AFP "demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan", which already began two weeks ago, should "lead to a lasting and permanent ceasefire", and “demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
Contrary to the American text rejected on Friday, it does not link these requests to the diplomatic efforts of Qatar, the United States and Egypt, even if it “recognizes” the existence of these talks aimed at a truce accompanied by a exchange of Palestinian hostages and prisoners.
“Removal of all obstacles”
On Friday, American Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield estimated that the previous version of the text did not support these diplomatic efforts and “worse, could give Hamas an excuse to reject the agreement on the table”.
The new draft resolution also calls for the “removal of all obstacles” to humanitarian aid.
The Council, largely divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue for years, has only been able to adopt since October 7 on this issue two resolutions (out of eight submitted to the vote), essentially humanitarian.
Without much result: after five and a half months of war, the entry of aid into Gaza, besieged, remains largely insufficient and famine looms.
The new draft text also condemns "all terrorist acts", but without mentioning the Hamas attacks of October 7 which led to the death of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to a count of AFP established from official Israeli data.
No resolution adopted by the Council or the UN General Assembly since October 7 has specifically condemned Hamas, an absence systematically castigated by Israel.