NEGOTIATIONS: US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (right) speaks while Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama (th) listens during Tuesday’s negotiations. Photo: Seth Wenig / AP / NTB
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council voted on a resolution on a cease-fire in Gaza. The United States vetoed the proposal, reports Reuters.
Tuesday 20 February at 16:56
The resolution that was voted down was put forward by Algeria, which called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
– A vote for this draft resolution is a support for the Palestinians’ right to life:
– Silence, we believe, is not a possible option. Members of the Security Council are responsible for voting on measures that maintain international peace and security, said Algeria’s UN ambassador Amar Bendjama during the negotiations on Tuesday.
US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield already notified several days ago that the country was going to veto Algeria’s proposal. She justified this by saying that the resolution could get in the way of complicated negotiations between Israel and Hamas – which have recently been going on in Egypt.
USA work instead with a separate ceasefire resolution – which is also critical of Israel’s announced ground invasion in Rafah.
– The resolution from Algeria has a text and a design that was obviously not acceptable to the United States. At the same time, the Americans have seen, and allowed themselves to be pressured, for a long time by a world that wants an end to this war. So the US has slowly and gradually changed both language and attitude, says Hilde Henriksen Waage to VG.
She is professor of history at UiO and senior researcher at the PrioInstitutt for Peace Research (PRIO).
– The pressure is increasing
The US’s own resolution advocates a temporary ceasefire “as soon as practicable”, according to the statement Al Jazeera and Reuters, who write that they have seen the draft. The resolution also warns Israel against a ground offensive in the city of Rafah, located in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The resolution also advocates the release of the hostages and humanitarian aid into Gaza, but does not mention Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
– The American resolution is certainly vaguer, weaker in its wording, and certainly not critical of Israel. But we can hope that they will at least ask for a humanitarian pause and a halt to hostilities, says Waage.
If the US proposes such a resolution, it is also not certain that it will be adopted.
– Russia or China put down the veto because they think it is far too weak – and then you move back to the beginning. But if it is passed, it is a resolution that is a very strong call to Israel.
But it will not necessarily mean more than just that:
– What is of great importance is if the United States and the major powers actually put power behind the demands and force through what the resolution asks for, but I doubt that they will do that. So we have not progressed further than that the pressure on Israel is increasing, says Waage.
WATCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a military invasion of Rafah in Gaza. This is at stake for the Palestinians.
– Intense diplomatic game
In a statement at the end of last week, the US ambassador to the UN said that the country is working to negotiate an agreement between Israel and Hamas. According to the US, the agreement will lead to the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, facilitate a longer ceasefire, and allow food, water and other necessities to enter Gaza.
The ceasefire proposal from Algeria – which was also critical of Israel’s warfare – could work against this process, she said.
That may well be true, according to Waage.
– A much more important and intense diplomatic game is taking place behind the scenes. In that game, it is unfortunately the case that you have to have the strong party, which is Israel, in the negotiations.
– Sure and rent
The professor says it is obvious that Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are becoming “quite angry and fed up” with the growing international pressure for a ceasefire and negotiations for a two-state solution.
– They are so angry that the Israeli government on Sunday adopted a resolution which, in plain text, means that “we are against a Palestinian state and we do what we want”, she says.
The statement they adopted on Sunday states that Israel rejects any international attempt to impose a permanent solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, and that any solution must come through direct negotiations between the two parties.
– The whole world calls for actions and sanctions and wants an end to the war, but those who run the diplomacy are not benefited by Israel going into a deadlock, says Waage.
2024-02-20 15:37:51
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