U.S. prepares UN resolution calling on temporary ceasefire

The United States is proposing a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in a new UN Security Council draft resolution. 

According to the draft, the resolution calls for a “temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable” as well as the immediate release of the remaining 134 hostages held by terror groups and possibly civilians in Gaza.

The resolution also warns against a looming Israeli military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, saying it would “result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighbouring countries, which would have serious implications for regional peace and security.”

The draft proposal comes after President Biden said he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their last phone call that “there has to be a temporary ceasefire.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on a proposal put forward by Algeria and backed by 22 Arab nations, calling on an immediate humanitarian pause in Gaza.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood rejected Algeria’s proposal, arguing that it’s not “an effective mechanism for trying to do the three things that we want to see happen — which is get hostages out, more aid in, and a lengthy pause to this conflict.”

Israel has repeatedly refused calls for a ceasefire that don’t include the unconditional surrender of Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza, as well as the release of all hostages.