The United States has circulated a potential U.N. Security Council resolution supporting a temporary ceasefire in Gaza in what appeared to be the latest move by the White House to rein in Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the draft resolution the U.S. says there should be a temporary ceasefire ‘as soon as practicable,’ although no date was given.
Washington has previously been averse to the word ceasefire in any U.N. action on the Israel-Hamas war.
The U.S. draft text echoes language that President Joe Biden said he used last week in conversations with Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister.
It was not immediately clear when, or if, the draft U.S. resolution would be put to a vote in the 15-member Security Council.
The U.S. put forward the draft resolution as an alternative after Algeria requested the council vote on a separate draft resolution on Tuesday.
Algeria’s proposal would demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
U.S. President Joe Biden has reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ‘a**hole’ repeatedly in private
Civil defense teams and local residents try to extinguish a fire that broke out after a building hit by Israeli forces in Rafah, Gaza on February 19, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to members of the press after a weekend in Delaware, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 19, 2024
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., has already indicated America would veto the Algerian resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
The U.S. draft resolution also requires the release of all hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas terrorist atrocity on October 7 attack.
It also calls for the lifting of all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The U.S. draft says those actions ‘would help to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities’ as already called for in a resolution adopted by the Security Council on December 22.
The proposed resolution says Israel’s planned major ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have sought safety, ‘should not proceed under current circumstances.’
And it warns that further displacement of civilians, ‘including potentially into neighboring countries’ like Egypt would have serious implications for regional peace and security.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Tel Aviv on 19 February 2024
US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. has been working on a hostage deal
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at a rally demanding a ceasefire and the end of Israel attacks on Gaza at the borough of Queens in New York, U.S., February 19, 2024
The draft U.S. text would also condemn calls by some Israeli government ministers for Jewish settlers to move to Gaza.
Thomas-Greenfield said on Sunday that the U.S. has been working on a hostage deal for months that would bring at least a six-week period of calm.
She said ‘we could then take the time and the steps to build a more enduring peace.’
The ambassador said Biden has had multiple calls over the last week with Netanyahu, and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, to push the deal forward.
She said it was the best way to secure a prolonged pause in fighting that would allow aid to get to Palestinian civilians.
On Monday, U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood said the Algerian draft resolution is not ‘an effective mechanism for trying to do the three things that we want to see happen – which is get hostages out, more aid in, and a lengthy pause to this conflict.’
He said the U.S. draft is ‘another possible option’ although he suggested nothing would happen with it imminently.
Emergency workers and residents try to put out a fire after a building was hit by Israeli forces in Rafah, Gaza on February 19, 2024
At the weekend Democrat Congressman Jim Clyburn, a close ally of Biden, said the president did not believe Netanyahu’s leadership had been ‘good’ for Israel.
Clyburn said: ‘I’ve talked to the president about this. And, of course, he is not going to be public with everything he says to Netanyahu.
‘But I know this. He feels about the way I feel when it comes to Netanyahu. He is, his leadership, has not been good for Israel.’
A week ago it emerged Biden had privately referred to Netanyahu as ‘an a**hole’ on at least three occasions, and called him the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
A source close to the president told NBC News that Biden feels as though Netanyahu is ‘giving him hell’ over ceasefire negotiations.
The president’s remarks reportedly came as Israeli airstrikes killed 67 Palestinians and wounded dozens more in Rafah, according to Gaza officials.
Deadly fighting raged in Gaza on Monday after Israel warned that, unless Hamas frees all hostages, it will push on with its offensive during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including in the far-southern Rafah area.
Global concern has mounted over the fate of 1.4 million Palestinians who fighting has forced into Rafah near the Egyptian border.
They have been enduring bombardment and dire food shortages in crowded makeshift shelters and tents.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz warned that the Israeli army is ready to push deeper into Rafah during Ramadan which starts around March 10.
‘If by Ramadan the hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere to include the Rafah area,’ Gantz said on Sunday.
He added: ‘Hamas has a choice. They can surrender, release the hostages, and the civilians of Gaza can celebrate the feast of Ramadan.’
Gantz said Israel would allow the evacuation of civilians from Rafah.
He did not say where Palestinians could go with vast swathes of the territory flattened after more than four months of devastating war.
Egypt has argued that allowing Gazans to flee over the border would facilitate an effort to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population.