Algeria requested the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to vote on a draft resolution that demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, a move the United States – a council veto power – has pledged to veto.
According to diplomatic sources quoted by media, the 15-member body is likely to vote on Tuesday on the resolution sought by Algeria demanding an “immediate” truce in Gaza.
Algeria put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago.
The draft resolution rejects “the forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population” and demands “all parties to comply with international law” and calls for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip.
It also calls for the full implementation of the provisional measures announced by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in late January, in the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel.
US vows to veto UNSC resolution
However, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield issued a statement on Saturday saying that the current draft of the UNSC resolution “will not be adopted.”
“The United States does not support action on this draft resolution. Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Thomas-Greenfield claimed that the text could jeopardize “sensitive negotiations” aimed at brokering a pause in the war.
Her comments come as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that a new deal “does not appear very close.”
Talks between the US, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar are on to seek a pause in the war and the release of captives held by Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza.
A UN Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China, or Russia, to be adopted.
Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from UN action and has already thrice vetoed council action since October 7 after Israel unleashed the war on the besieged territory, killing close to 29,000 Palestinians as intense bombardment from air, land, and sea continues.
The administration of US president Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to send “tens of millions of dollars” worth of bombs and weapons to Israel in continuation of Washington’s untrammeled support for the occupying regime’s months-long war on Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The report said the remaining weapons are enough to sustain 19 weeks of bombing Gaza but that would shrink to days if Tel Aviv also launches a full assault on Lebanon, from which the regime has come under harsh retaliatory attack by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
Israel also plans to storm Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge, prompting international concern that such a move would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“The situation in Gaza is an appalling indictment of the deadlock in global relations,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
