US urges UN Security Council to support Gaza ceasefire plan announced by President Biden

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to support the three-phase plan announced by President Joe Biden that aims to end the nearly eight-month war in Gaza by releasing all hostages and sending massive aid for the devastated. territory.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States had circulated a draft resolution to the other 14 council members to support the proposal to end the conflict that began with Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7. , which killed around 1,200 people, most of them Israelis. civilians.

“Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan and we call on the Security Council to join them in calling for the implementation of this agreement without delay and without further conditions,” she said in a statement.

The brief draft resolution, obtained by the Associated Press, would welcome the May 31 agreement announced by Biden and call on Hamas “to fully accept it and implement its terms without delay and without conditions.” Hamas said it views the proposal “positively.”

It makes no mention of Israeli acceptance of the agreement.

When Biden made the announcement, he called it an Israeli offer that includes a “lasting ceasefire” and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza if Hamas releases all the hostages it is holding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his hardline government partners on Monday that the proposal announced by Biden would meet Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas, according to local media. Ultranationalists threatened to overthrow his government if Netanyahu agreed to a deal that did not eliminate Hamas.

Netanyahu told parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that Biden had given an outline of the deal but not all the details, and said there were “gaps.”

Biden said the first phase of the proposed deal would last six weeks and include a “total and complete ceasefire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of some hostages, including women, the elderly and the injured. , in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The American hostages would be released at this stage and the remains of the dead hostages would be returned to their families. There would be an increase in humanitarian aidwith 600 trucks a day entering Gaza.

In the second phase, all remaining living hostages would be released, including soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Biden said that if Hamas lives up to its commitments, the temporary ceasefire would become a “permanent cessation of hostilities.”

Around 250 people, mainly Israeli civilians, were abducted on October 7, then more than 100 were released in a short truce in late November and early December. Israel says around 80 hostages are still in captivity, alongside the remains of about 43 other people.

Israeli bombings and ground offensives in Gaza, governed by Hamas, killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Healthwhich makes no distinction between combatants and civilians.

The third phase of the plan announced by Biden calls for the beginning of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of reconstruction after the devastation caused by the war.

The draft resolution stresses the importance of Israel and Hamas adhering to the agreement, once agreed, “with the aim of bringing about a permanent cessation of hostilities, and calls on all Member States and the United Nations to support its implementation ”.

The draft would also reiterate the Council’s “unwavering commitment” to a two-state solution and underline the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.

Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador, said Security Council members “have consistently called for the measures outlined in this agreement: bringing hostages home, ensuring a complete ceasefire, allowing increased humanitarian assistance in Gaza and renewal of essential services, and prepare the ground for a long-term reconstruction plan for Gaza.”

“Board members should not let this opportunity pass by,” she said. “We must speak with one voice in support of this agreement.”

On Monday, the foreign ministers of five key Arab nations – Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt – urged Israel and Hamas to consider Biden’s proposal “seriously and positively.”

The group of seven major industrialized nations – the USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy – also supported the ceasefire plan.