The United States has presented to the United Nations Security Council a draft resolution that, for the first time, calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza in a text drafted by Washington. The Israeli military response to Hamas attacks on October 7 has already claimed more than 32,000 lives and produced a mounting humanitarian catastrophe.
Washington’s stance, which has used its veto power three times since the conflict began to block resolutions seeking a halt to hostilities, is to push for a vote on Friday morning in New York. The vote could occur before another meeting already on the schedule for 10 a.m. local time (3 p.m. in Spain).
The wording in the first point of the draft, first reported by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his sixth trip to the Middle East since October 7, carries a measured ambiguity. The text states that the Security Council “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, to allow the delivery of essential humanitarian aid, and to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and, for that purpose, unequivocally supports diplomatic efforts to secure that ceasefire in connection with the release of all hostages currently held by Hamas.”
It also emphasizes the full backing for leveraging the window of opportunity created by any ceasefire to intensify diplomatic and other efforts aimed at creating conditions for a sustainable halt in hostilities and a lasting peace as outlined in Resolution 2720, adopted last December. That resolution urges the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and calls on all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
To be approved, the resolution includes another 24 points and requires at least nine votes from the 15 Security Council members with no veto from any of the five permanent members: the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France.
A turning point
Despite the drafting ambiguity, the resolution marks the most significant step so far by the United States in favor of a ceasefire. It reflects rising global pressure on Washington to act in the face of the humanitarian tragedy sparked by the conflict in Gaza. President Joe Biden has consistently supported Israel, providing military and economic aid, yet tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have grown more evident in recent days, not only because of the humanitarian crisis but also due to Netanyahu’s push for an assault on Rafah. Domestic political pressure on the Democratic president in a year when he seeks re-election adds to the complexity.
Blinken, in a Saudi television interview announcing the resolution, noted that negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, were approaching a breakthrough. On Thursday the top U.S. diplomat was in Egypt, and Friday he was expected to return to Israel.
The veto history
The United States vetoed a Brazilian draft on October 18 that called for humanitarian pauses, and a week later presented its own text with that proposal, which was blocked by Russia and China. In December Washington exercised the veto again against a draft calling for an immediate ceasefire that had been prepared by the United Arab Emirates, and it repeated the same move in February with a draft from Algeria with the same demand.
Since then, the U.S. has been negotiating a draft resolution advocating a truce in exchange for the release of hostages. A diplomat from France, Nicolas de Riviere, commented that “we need a ceasefire by Ramadan and then we will aim for a sustainable ceasefire.” With closed-door consultations in the Security Council underway, France pressed for immediate action to save lives and urged that the council should not treat Gaza as an exception.
Another voice emphasized that the draft resolution offers the Security Council a chance to speak with a unified voice in support of on-the-ground diplomacy and to press Hamas to accept the terms on the table. A spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations highlighted this moment as an opportunity for collective leadership to shape the course of diplomacy in Gaza.