US Backs UN Security Council Vote on Aid Flow to Gaza

The UN Security Council is moving closer to a vote on humanitarian aid for Gaza after the US expressed support for the latest draft resolution.

The vote, now delayed until today, had been in limbo after the US voiced ‘widespread concerns’ with a draft.

Emerging from a closed-door session on Thursday night, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield rejected claims the latest draft had been watered down, arguing it is ‘a very strong resolution.’

She called it ‘a resolution that the US can support’ but declined to say if the US would vote ‘yes’ or abstain.

The original draft called for a sustainable cessation of hostilities, but the final version calls for creating the conditions for one.

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It no longer calls for the use of all land, sea, and air routes for deliveries—just all available routes.

The removal of the call for a suspension of hostilities will ease the international pressure on Israel, which has rejected deadlines for completing its offensive.

So to will the editing out of a paragraph in the original resolution which firmly condemns all violations of international humanitarian law, including all indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism.

The US may have managed to turn a very bad situation into an opportunity.

They have managed to water down the text so much that Washington can buy it, but Russia in particular will struggle to swallow it, Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group, said.

The language around creating conditions for a cessation of hostilities is incredibly opaque.

The language around the coordinator is pure garble, Gowan added.

There is still the nod to the idea of a UN humanitarian mechanism, but it is so blurry that it gives the UN very little guidance or leverage.