Arabs put to vote UN resolution demanding immediate Gaza cease-fire

Arab nations are putting to a vote a UN resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, knowing it will be vetoed by the United States but hoping to show broad global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war.

The Security Council scheduled the vote on the resolution at 10 am EST (1530 GMT) Tuesday. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says the Biden administration will veto the Arab-backed resolution because it may interfere with ongoing US efforts to arrange a deal between the warring parties that would bring at least a six-week halt to hostilities and release all hostages taken during Hamas' surprise Oct 7 attack in southern Israel.

In a surprise move ahead of the vote, the United States circulated a rival UN Security Council resolution that would support a temporary cease-fire in Gaza linked to the release of all hostages, and call for the lifting of all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Both of these actions would help to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities, the draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press says.

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told several reporters Monday that the Arab-backed 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.

With the US draft, what we're looking at is another possible option, and we'll be discussing this with friends going forward, Wood said. I don't think you can expect anything to happen tomorrow.

A senior US official said later Monday that we don't believe in a rush to a vote. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of council discussions on the US draft, said, We intend to engage in the coming days in intensive negotiation around it...That's why we're not putting a timeline on a vote, but we do recognise the urgency of the situation.

Arab nations, supported by many of the 193 UN member countries, have been demanding a cease-fire for months as Israel's military offensive has intensified in response to the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.

The number of Palestinians killed has surpassed 29,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.

Tunisia's UN Ambassador Tarek Ladeb, this month's chair of the 22-nation Arab Group, told UN reporters last Wednesday that a cease-fire is urgently needed.

He pointed to some 1.5 million Palestinians who sought safety in Gaza's southern city of Rafah and face a catastrophic scenario if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes ahead with his announced plan to evacuate civilians from the city and move Israel's military offensive to the area bordering Egypt where Israel says Hamas fighters are hiding.

In addition to a cease-fire now, the Arab-backed draft resolution demands the immediate release of all hostages, rejects the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, calls for unhindered humanitarian access throughout Gaza, and reiterates council demands that Israel and Hamas scrupulously comply with international law, especially the protection of civilians. Without naming either party, it condemns all acts of terrorism

In a tough message to Israel, the US draft resolution says Israel's planned major ground offensive in Rafah should not proceed under current circumstances. And it warns that further displacement of civilians, including potentially into neighbouring countries, a reference to Egypt, would have serious implications for regional peace and security.

Thomas-Greenfield, in a statement Sunday, explained that the United States has been working on a hostage deal for months. She said US President Joe Biden has had multiple calls over the last week with Netanyahu and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to push the deal forward.

Though gaps remain, the key elements are on the table, she said, and the deal remains the best opportunity to free the hostages and have a sustained pause that would enable lifesaving aid to get to needy Palestinians.

The 15 Security Council members have been negotiating on the Arab-backed resolution for three weeks. Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, delayed a vote at US request while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was recently in the region, hoping to get a hostage deal.

But Qatar said Saturday the talks have not been progressing as expected. And the Arab Group decided over the weekend that they had given the US enough time and put their resolution in final form for a vote.

What will happen after the US casts its veto remains to be seen. The Arab Group could take their resolution to the UN General Assembly, which includes all 193 UN member nations, where it is virtually certain to be approved. But unlike Security Council resolutions, assembly resolutions are not legally binding.

The Security Council will then likely start discussing the much-lengthier US draft resolution, which would for the first time not only condemn Hamas' Oct 7 attack but its hostage taking and killing, murder, and sexual violence including rape. Some council members blocked the condemnation of Hamas in two previous council resolutions on Gaza.

The US draft doesn't name Israel, but in a clear reference the draft condemns calls by government ministers for the resettlement of Gaza and rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in Gaza that would violate international law.