US pushing UN Security Council to back Gaza ceasefire plan

US representative to UN submits Israel-Hamas ceasefire proposal for vote, without setting a date.

By World Israel News Staff

The United States is presenting an Israel-Hamas ceasefire proposal for United Nations Security Council vote, American officials announced on Monday.

“Today, the United States called for the Security Council to move towards a vote… supporting the proposal on the table,” said Nate Evans, spokesman for the U.S. delegation to the UN, in a media statement.

“Council members should not let this opportunity pass by and must speak with one voice in support of this deal,” Evans said.

Notably, Evans did not specify when the vote would take place.

According to a draft of the Security Council resolution viewed by Axios, the U.S.-sponsored text “welcomes the new ceasefire proposal announced on May 31, which is acceptable to Israel, calls upon Hamas to also accept it, and urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”

The document’s assertion that Israel has accepted the ceasefire agreement is dubious, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently walked back claims that Jerusalem had agreed to the proposal.

Phase two of the agreement specifies a “permanent cessation of hostilities,” which Netanyahu said does not constitute an end to the war.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly said that his Otzma Yehudit party will not back the proposal until it views the full text of the agreement, which he said that Netanyahu has thus far refused to show him.

The Biden administration has made it clear that the “onus” is on Hamas to accept the deal.

But a senior American official said in a press conference on Sunday that Hamas’ decision to ultimately reject or accept the proposal could be impacted by Saturday’s successful hostage rescue operation.

“It’s hard to say how Hamas will process this particular operation and what it will do to its determination about whether it will say yes or not,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told media.

“We have not gotten a formal answer from Hamas at this time.”