The United States will present a draft resolution at the UN Security Council to support the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, presented by President Joe Biden, and call on Hamas to accept it.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on Monday, in a statement, that the Americans “distributed a new draft Security Council resolution that supports the proposal over the table to stop the fighting in Gaza through an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages”.
“Many leaders and governments, including in the region, 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 stressed.
“The Security Council must insist on the fact that Hamas must accept this plan,” added Thomas-Greenfield, estimating that Council members already agree with the main lines of the agreement: hostage release ns, ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid, long-term reconstruction of Gaza.
The US Government defended on Monday the proposal announced by President Joe Biden, which has been criticized by members of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Executive.
Netanyahu, who has insisted that he wants a “total victory” over Hamas, avoided committing on Monday to the truce proposal and assured that the plan detailed last Friday by Biden was incomplete.
But on Monday, the White House (US presidency) and Joe Biden indicated that the adoption of the plan now depended solely on Hamas.
Hamas, in turn, indicated that it positively received the proposal announced by Biden.
According to Joe Biden, Israel would have proposed to Hamas a first phase of a six-week ceasefire in which troops would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza and several Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for the release of kidnapped women, elderly and injured.
The second phase would consist of the permanent end of hostilities and the release of the remaining hostages, while the third and final phase would be dedicated to the reconstruction of Gaza.
Last week, Algeria circulated a draft resolution in the Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli offensive in Rafah, highlighting the order to that effect from the International Court of Justice .
The United States estimated at the time that this resolution “would not help” end the war, favoring negotiations on the ground to reach a truce.
No vote is scheduled at this stage on any of the draft resolutions, reported the agency France-Presse (AFP).
Since the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7 against Israel and the war by Israeli forces in Gaza, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice.
