The United States says it would veto an Algerian draft resolution in the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
The United States has said it will block another resolution soon to be presented to the United Nations calling for a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza.
Algeria has proposed voting this Tuesday on a new resolution in the UN Security Council (UNSC) that seeks an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, while demanding a ” immediate and unconditional release.” of all the hostages.”
“If it is put to a vote as written, it will not be adopted,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement on Saturday.
The envoy said the resolution could “run counter” to the goals Washington says can be achieved through diplomacy in talks between Israel and Hamas that Qatar and Egypt are also mediating.
One possible deal, which has been under discussion for weeks, proposes a one-week truce, during which Israeli captives held in Gaza can be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and more humanitarian aid can enter the besieged Gaza Strip. .
The talks appeared to suffer a setback last week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hamas' demands “ridiculous,” and mediator Qatar said the discussions had not been promising.
“The Council has an obligation to ensure that any action we take in the coming days increases pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal on the table,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
The United States has used its veto power to support Israel in the Security Council on dozens of occasions. He has done so several times since the start of the war on October 7, most recently in early December when he vetoed a ceasefire resolution introduced by the United Arab Emirates.
A UN Security Council resolution was passed in late December, but was harshly criticized by human rights organizations and others for being a “watered down” version of the original proposal.
The Algerian proposal to vote on a new resolution comes amid growing fears that Israel is planning a ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, home to around 1.4 million Palestinians displaced from other parts of the territory since October. Aid agencies and the UN have warned that a ground attack on Rafah could be catastrophic.
