UN postpones new ceasefire vote to try to get US on side

Tel Aviv: The UN Security Council has delayed voting on an Arab-sponsored resolution for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants.

The vote was pushed back to try to avoid another veto by the United States, Israel’s closest ally.

The council said the vote was postponed to Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), and diplomats said negotiations were taking place to get the US to abstain or vote “yes” on the resolution.

The draft resolution on the table called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” to allow unhindered access to deliver humanitarian aid to the massive number of civilians in need of food, water and medicine.

But this language is expected to be watered down to a “suspension” of hostilities or similar language to get US support, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private.

The importance of a Security Council resolution is that it is legally binding, but in practice many parties choose to ignore the council’s requests for action. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they are a significant barometer of world opinion.

The US vetoed a Security Council resolution backed by almost all council members and dozens of other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza last week, and has rushed more munitions to Israel. The 193-member General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a similar resolution on December 12 by a vote of 153-10, with 23 abstentions.

Meanwhile, US and Israeli intelligence chiefs met with Qatar’s prime minister in Poland to broker the release of more hostages, the first known meeting of the three since a weeklong ceasefire ended in late November.

The head of the CIA was said to be sounding out the potential for a new hostage-prisoner swap deal, as the US defence secretary spoke to Israeli military leaders about scaling back major combat operations against Hamas.

Still, there was no sign that a shift in the war was imminent after more than two months of devastating bombardment and fighting. Fierce battles raged in northern Gaza, where residents said rescue workers were searching for the dead and the living under buildings flattened by Israeli strikes.

Pressure is growing, as France, the UK and Germany – some of Israel’s closest allies – joined global calls for a ceasefire over the weekend. Israeli protesters have demanded the government relaunch talks with Hamas on releasing more hostages after three were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops while waving a white flag.

US officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza. But after talks with Israeli officials, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “This is Israel’s operation. I’m not here to dictate timelines or terms.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will keep fighting until it ends Hamas rule in Gaza, crushes its formidable military capabilities and frees hostages still held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 attack inside Israel that ignited the war. In the unprecedented attack, militants killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 240 men, women and children.

The 10-week-old war has killed more than 19,400 Palestinians and demolished much of the north into a moonscape. Some 1.9 million Palestinians – nearly 85 per cent of Gaza’s population – have fled their homes, with most packing into UN-run shelters and tent camps in the southern part of the besieged territory.

An Israeli soldier prepares a gun turret before entering the southern Gaza Strip.Credit: Getty

Aiming to increase public pressure on the Israeli government, Hamas released a video showing three elderly Israeli hostages, sitting in white T-shirts and pleading for Israel to bring their immediate release.

The comments were likely made under duress, but the video signalled Hamas wants to move on to discussions of releasing sick and elderly men in captivity. Israel has said it wants about 19 women and two children freed first. Hamas says the women include soldiers, for whom it is expected to demand a higher price in terms of prisoner releases.

Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives. Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until the war ends.

At least 110 people were killed in Israeli strikes on residential buildings in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza overnight, Munir al-Boursh, a senior Health Ministry official, told Al Jazeera television.

Fierce fighting is ongoing in Jabalia and the Gaza City districts of Zaytoun and Shijaiyah, where tens of thousands of Palestinians remain trapped, crowded in homes or schools.

In Jabalia, first responders and residents searched the rubble of many collapsed buildings. “They use their hands and shovels,” said Amal Radwan, who is staying at a UN shelter there. “We need bulldozers and, above all, the bombing to stop.”

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have traded fire along the border nearly every day since the war began. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, including four on Monday during an Israeli military raid in the Faraa refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

This has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005. Most have been killed during military raids, which often ignite gunbattles, or during violent demonstrations.

AP

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