The United States has circulated a possible UN Security Council resolution supporting a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
In the draft resolution, the United States says there should be a temporary ceasefire “as soon as possible,” although no date was given.
Washington has been reluctant to use the word ceasefire in any UN action on the war between Israel and Hamas.
The US draft text echoes language that President Joe Biden said he used last week in talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It was not immediately clear when, or if, the draft resolution would come up for a vote in the 15-member council.
The United States presented the draft resolution as an alternative after Algeria asked the council to vote on its draft resolution on Tuesday.
Algeria’s proposal would require an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, has already quickly indicated that the US will veto that.
The US draft resolution also demands the release of all hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas terrorist atrocity on October 7.
It also calls for the lifting of all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The draft says that such actions would “help 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 against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought safety, “should not continue under the current circumstances.”
And it warns that further displacement of civilians, ‘even potentially to neighboring countries’ such as Egypt, would have serious implications for regional peace and security.
This is a developing story.