Sawt Falasteen - Security Council mulls Monday vote on new Gaza ceasefire call

The vote, initially set for 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), has been rescheduled for 5:00 pm but could be further postponed, possibly until Tuesday, to allow negotiations to proceed and to avoid a new impasse for the council, diplomatic sources told AFP Monday.

Earlier this month the United States blocked a previous Security Council resolution that would have called for a "humanitarian ceasefire" in the battered Palestinian territory, where Israel continues its deadly strikes in retaliation for Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack.

But in the General Assembly, the UN's 193 members voted overwhelmingly for a ceasefire, with 153 in favor -- exceeding the 140 or so countries that have routinely backed resolutions condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The upcoming Security Council resolution was prepared by Arab countries that had come away from last Tuesday's General Assembly vote bolstered by such broad international support, though the latest text's fate remains uncertain.

The new draft, introduced by the United Arab Emirates and seen by AFP, calls for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip."

It also affirms support for a two-state solution in the region and "stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority."

The draft does not explicitly name Hamas, though it does call for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and condemns "all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism."

- 'Protect civilians' -

Israel and the United States have expressed disapproval of earlier drafts that did not mention Hamas, and ahead of Monday's vote Israel reiterated its criticisms.

"A ceasefire that leaves Hamas in power with impunity and with the desire and capability to repeat October 7 again and again and again is simply unacceptable," Tal Heinrich, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, said in a briefing.

The Security Council has faced international opprobrium for passing only one resolution on Gaza since the start of the war, in which the 15-member body called for "humanitarian pauses" -- after several other resolutions were rejected.

Two texts were vetoed by Washington.

According to diplomatic sources, negotiations were continuing into Monday to avoid another impasse, days after US President Joe Biden warned Israel was at risk of losing international support due to its "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza.

"The United States should now back those words by acting at the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel, as well as Palestinian armed groups, to comply with international humanitarian law and protect civilians," said Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch.

On Monday Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard joined the call for Security Council members to adopt the resolution, warning on X that "any use of their veto power will translate into more killings, starvation, sufferings."

Security Council resolutions are binding, but are often ignored by countries involved.

According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, 19,453 people, mostly civilians and children, have died since the Israeli bombardment began in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's October 7 attack.

The attack by Hamas left 1,139 people dead in Israel, also mostly civilians, and saw some 250 people kidnapped, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

"In the face of such atrocities, there is only one moral position, one defensible position: Ceasefire now, ceasefire now, ceasefire now," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Friday.

But his Israel counterpart Gilad Erdan countered: "Calling for a ceasefire now, while (hostages) are still being held, is the most immoral thing to do."

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST