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UN to vote on resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Women react after an Israeli strike near a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on October 21, 2023. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

By Foreign Reporter | Friday, March 22, 2024

The product of more than a month of negotiations and the exchange of updated drafts among council members, the final text reflects growing concern and international outrage over the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

A U.S.-sponsored resolution that condemns restrictions preventing aid from entering Gaza, any attempt to "reduce" its territory, and attacks against civilians as violations of international law, and warns against a military offensive in Rafah, is due for a vote today at the U.N. Security Council.

The resolution also includes calls for an immediate cease-fire with no stated time limit — a provision that has contributed to U.S. vetoes of three previous resolutions.

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Although the lengthy text mentions Israel only once — in calling for a two-state solution — it is the target of most of its provisions.

The product of more than a month of negotiations and the exchange of updated drafts among council members, the final text reflects growing concern and international outrage over the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

One of the additions to an initial version of the resolution put forward in mid-February notes that a ground operation in Rafah, which Israel says it is readying, "would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and would increase the risk of violations of the parties' obligations under international humanitarian law."

Washington, Israel's staunchest supporter, has been gradually hardening its tone following its early solid support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war in Gaza.

UN experts have already warned of an imminent famine as a result of the Israeli blockade.

Previously, the US has avoided referring to a ceasefire and vetoed UN resolutions that have called for one, most recently in February.