UN Security Council moving toward vote to demand aid access for Gaza
Security Council could vote as early as Monday on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip — via land, sea and air routes — and set up U.N. monitoring of the humanitarian assistance delivered.
Diplomats said the fate of the draft Security Council resolution hinges on final negotiations between Israel ally and council veto power, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, which has drafted the text.
«We have engaged constructively and transparently throughout the entire process in an effort to unite around a product that will pass,» said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. «The UAE knows exactly what can pass and what cannot — it is up to them if they want to get this done.»
The U.S. wants to tone down language on a cessation of hostilities, diplomats said. The draft text, seen by Reuters, currently «calls for an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access.»
U.N. officials and aid agencies warn of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza — mass starvation and disease — with the majority of the coastal Palestinian enclave's 2.3 million people driven from their homes during the two-month long conflict.
A council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the U.S., France, China, Britain or Russia.
Earlier this month, Washington vetoed a resolution in the 15-member council that would have demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militants in Gaza. The 193-member U.N. General Assembly then demanded a ceasefire last week with 153 states voting in favor.
The United States and Israel oppose a
