On Saturday, the United States threatened to kill a new draft resolution in the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons” in the Gaza Strip, after Algeria requested a vote on it next Tuesday.
Following the decision issued by the International Court of Justice at the end of January in which it called on Israel to prevent any possible act of “genocide” in Gaza, Algeria launched consultations in the Security Council on a new draft resolution calling for the establishment of a truce in the besieged Palestinian Strip.
According to the latest version of the Algerian draft resolution, which was seen by AFP on Saturday, the Security Council calls for “an immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons that is respected by all parties.”
According to diplomatic sources at the United Nations, Algeria requested that the Security Council vote on the text in its current form on Tuesday.
The draft resolution rejects the “forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population” and calls for an end to this “violation of international law,” according to Agence France-Presse.
The text also calls for the release of all those detained by Hamas.
However, like all previous texts criticized by Israel and its ally the United States, the draft resolution does not condemn the attack launched by Hamas on October 7 on the settlements surrounding Gaza.
In response to the attack, Israel pledged to “eliminate” Hamas, and launched a massive attack on Gaza that has so far killed 28,858 people, the vast majority of them civilians, women and minors, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
On Saturday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, issued a statement denouncing Algeria’s decision to refer the text to a vote.
In her statement, the American delegate considered that the Algerian move threatens to undermine the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by America, Egypt and Qatar, to establish a new truce that includes the release of detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel.
The American statement added, “For this reason, the United States does not support” voting on this text, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
In a clear threat to resort to a veto to destroy the text, Thomas-Greenfield said in her statement, “If we reach a vote on the current draft, it will not be adopted.”
A few days ago, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said, “We believe that the time has come for the Security Council to adopt a resolution on a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.”
In mid-October and then at the beginning of December, Washington ignored all pressure exerted by the international community and used its veto power to thwart draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
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