The US draft resolution, which the UN Security Council will vote on later today, is carefully worded.
Rather than a direct call for a ceasefire, the text expresses support for the US/Egyptian and Qatari efforts to reach a hostage deal and links that to the imperative for an immediate and sustained ceasefire.
The US mission at the UN said that the resolution was an opportunity for the council to support diplomacy happening on the ground and pressure Hamas to accept the deal on the table.
Another vote could take place later in the day on a draft resolution put forward by the elected ten members of the Security Council.
Using stronger language than the US draft, it demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire. It also calls for the release of all hostages and expanded humanitarian access.
France’s UN Ambassador said every time there was a crisis, the Security Council called for a ceasefire and then talks, and Gaza should not be an exception.
