The UN Security Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The vote comes after Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported 바카라an immediate and sustained cease-fire바카라 in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
The United States warned that the resolution to be voted on Monday morning could hurt negotiations to halt hostilities by the US, Egypt and Qatar, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans.
The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, is backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations.
A statement issued Friday night by the Arab Group appealed to all 15 council members 바카라to act with unity and urgency바카라 and vote for the resolution 바카라to halt the bloodshed, preserve human lives and avert further human suffering and destruction.바카라
바카라It is long past time for a cease-fire,바카라 the Arab Group said.
Ramadan began March 10 and ends April 9, which means that if the resolution is approved the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, though the draft says the pause in fighting should lead 바카라to a permanent sustainable cease-fire.바카라
The vote was originally scheduled for Saturday morning, but its sponsors asked late Friday for a delay until Monday morning.
Many Security Council members are hoping the UN's most powerful body, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, will demand an end to the war that began when Gaza's Hamas rulers launched a surprise attack into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
Since then, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire.
More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency, with a report from an international authority on hunger warning March 18 that 바카라famine is imminent바카라 in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territory's 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation.
The brief resolution scheduled for a vote Monday 바카라demands an immediate humanitarian cease-fire for the month of Ramadan." It also demands 바카라the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages 바카라 and emphasizes the urgent need to protect civilians and deliver humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council Friday that the resolution's text 바카라fails to support sensitive diplomacy in the region. Worse, it could actually give Hamas an excuse to walk away from the deal on the table.바카라
바카라We should not move forward with any resolution that jeopardizes the ongoing negotiations,바카라 she said, warning that if the diplomacy isn't supported, 바카라we may once again find this council deadlocked.바카라
바카라I truly hope that that does not come about,바카라 Thomas-Greenfield said.
The United States has vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on February 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire.
Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution in late October calling for pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire.
They again vetoed the US resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. The vote became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, even as tensions between the two countries rise.
A key issue was the unusual language in the US draft. It said the Security Council 바카라determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.바카라 The phrasing was not a straightforward 바카라demand바카라 or 바카라call바카라 to halt hostilities.
Before the vote, Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supports an immediate cease-fire, but he criticized the diluted language, which he called philosophical wording that does not belong in a UN resolution.
He accused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of 바카라deliberately misleading the international community바카라 about calling for a cease-fire.
바카라This was some kind of an empty rhetorical exercise,바카라 Nebenzia said. 바카라The American product is exceedingly politicized, the sole purpose of which is to help to play to the voters, to throw them a bone in the form of some kind of a mention of a cease-fire in Gaza 바카라 and to ensure the impunity of Israel, whose crimes in the draft are not even assessed.바카라
China's UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said the US proposal set preconditions and fell far short of expectations of council members and the broader international community.
바카라If the US was serious about a cease-fire, it wouldn't have vetoed time and again multiple council resolutions,바카라 he said. 바카라It wouldn't have taken such a detour and played a game of words while being ambiguous and evasive on critical issues.바카라
Friday's vote in the 15-member council was 11 members in favor and three against, including Algeria, the Arab representative on the council. There was one abstention, from Guyana.
After the vote, Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China of vetoing the resolution for 바카라deeply cynical reasons,바카라 saying they could not bring themselves to condemn Hamas' terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7, which the resolution would have done for the first time.
A second 바카라petty바카라 reason, she said, is that 바카라Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States, because it would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed.바카라
She accused Russia of again putting 바카라politics over progress바카라 and having 바카라the audacity and hypocrisy to throw stones바카라 after launching an unwarranted invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The resolution did reflect a shift by the United States, which has found itself at odds with much of the world as even allies of Israel push for an unconditional end to fighting.
In previous resolutions, the US has closely intertwined calls for a cease-fire with demands for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. This resolution, using wording that's open to interpretation, continued to link the two issues, but not as firmly.
