Washington — A United Nations Security Council resolution on suspending fighting between Israel and Hamas and allowing more aid into Gaza has been softened, according to a source familiar with the text, as the United States says it’s ready to support it.
The security council is poised to vote Friday on the resolution. Language calling for “urgent steps” to lay the groundwork “for a sustainable cessation of hostilities” was instrumental in the United States’ decision to support the resolution.
The language of the now reads “urgent steps to immediately allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and also for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” according to the source.
A diplomatic source previously told CNN that key issues with the negotiations over the draft included language on the “cessation of hostilities” and a call for the UN to “establish a monitoring mechanism in the Gaza Strip with the necessary personnel and equipment, under the authority of the United Nations Secretary-General.”
Diplomats had been working behind closed doors to finalize a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates. US official familiar with the discussions said the draft had started with calling for an “urgent cessation” of hostilities. Neither the United States nor Israel currently supports a ceasefire, so the US countered with “a more passive formulation,” the official said, describing the language that ended up in the resolution.
“Israel is aware and can live with it,” the official added, while arguing it was not the language on the cessation of hostilities that caused the delays but rather the disagreements over the monitoring mechanism.
US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced late Thursday that the US would support the measure after previously voting four times to delay a vote on the resolution.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier Thursday that President Joe Biden had been in touch with members of his national security team and officials representing the US and the UN on discussions surrounding the resolution.
Friday’s resolution comes as the Biden administration has grown more vocal in expressing concerns over just how brutal the war in Gaza has been.
As reported by CNN