US ready to back diluted resolution on more aid to Gaza as UN vote delayed

UN Security Council vote is expected on Friday after four postponements, countries’ disagreements over language of text.

Palestinians line up for a meal in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on December 21, 2023 [Fatima Shbair/ AP]


The United States has indicated it will back a watered-down United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian war to call for more humanitarian aid for Gaza, after a week of negotiations and four postponements, but some countries want a stronger text that would include the now-eliminated call for a truce.


The UNSC once again delayed a vote on the resolution on Thursday, after the revised draft was discussed behind closed doors for more than an hour by council members.


Some nations want a stronger text as the latest draft removes calls for the “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities”. Given the significant changes, many countries said they needed to consult their capitals before a vote, which is expected on Friday.


The latest draft, seen by journalists, calls for “urgent steps to immediately allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and also for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.


As the high-level diplomatic talks were under way on Thursday, UN agencies said that Gaza’s entire population of 2.3 million people is at “imminent risk of famine” as battles rage between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters across most of the enclave.


On Friday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that 20,057 Palestinians have been killed and 53,320 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, when the current conflict broke out.


US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told reporters on Thursday that “if the resolution is put forward as is, then we can support it”.


She denied that the draft had been watered down, saying it was “very strong” and “fully supported by the Arab group”.

The UNSC vote on the United Arab Emirates-sponsored resolution was set to take place on Monday but has been delayed every day this week because of disagreements over language. The latest draft does not call for an end to the fighting, a change made to appease Washington, which has vetoed previous calls for a ceasefire.


Diplomatic sources say “the Russian and Palestinian ambassadors are not happy with these changes at all, and now we are back to the drawing board, essentially”,  Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reported from UN headquarters in New York.

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