The United Nations Security Council continued on Thursday to find a compromise ahead of a vote, repeatedly postponed this week, on a draft resolution, the latest version of which simply calls for “urgent measures” to allow humanitarian access to the Strip. of Gaza.

Earlier, hopes were expressed that it would be possible to hold a vote within the day (until 07:00 in the morning Greek time) on the new version of the text, the tone of which has been noticeably lowered: it no longer calls for an “urgent cessation of hostilities » in order to allow the distribution of humanitarian aid. But the vote was eventually postponed again and is now expected to take place later today, Friday, according to diplomatic sources told the Reuters news agency. The US delegation to the United Nations said it “may” eventually put the text on the table, the agency added.

The SA, widely criticized for its inaction since the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war, has been in tough negotiations all week on the draft resolution drawn up by the United Arab Emirates.

The vote was originally scheduled to take place on Monday, but was postponed four times, most notably last Wednesday, at the request of the US, which vetoed a previous draft resolution on December 8, calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip. which is being pounded by the Israeli army in retaliation for the bloody, unprecedented attack by Hamas’ military wing on southern sectors of Israeli territory on October 7.

The gap has “reduced”, the UAE ambassador to the UN, Lana Zaki Nusheiba, assured yesterday afternoon.

“We are actively working with our partners at the UN on the decision and its content,” the national security adviser of the US presidency, John Kirby, said in Washington at the same time, rejecting the idea that the US is “particularly isolated” at the international level for the issue.

After the war broke out, the SA failed to break its silence only once, with the November 15 decision simply calling for “humanitarian pauses” in hostilities. In two months, five more draft resolutions have been rejected, two due to US vetoes, most recently on December 8.

The US then blocked the UN’s adoption of a resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, despite unprecedented pressure from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel called that text unacceptable.

No explicit mention of Hamas

As UN agencies warn of the risk of starvation for the residents of the Gaza Strip, SA member states are trying to avoid the possibility of a new veto.

Under American pressure, the wording about cessation of hostilities was deleted.

The phrase calling for an “urgent and permanent cessation of hostilities” was deleted, as was the less pressing phrase of “urgent cessation of hostilities” in a later version.

The text on the table last night, which was obtained by AFP, states that the Security Council calls for “urgent measures to immediately allow safe and unimpeded access” to humanitarian aid and also to “create the conditions for a permanent cessation of hostilities”.

The negotiations of the last few hours revolved around the request to create a monitoring mechanism for the distribution of aid, under the “exclusive” responsibility of the UN, to guarantee the “humanitarian” nature of the deliveries.

Israel — which wants to control aid convoys — opposed the mechanism and reference to “exclusive” UN control was deleted from the latest version of the draft consulted by AFP.

Another thorn: once again, there is no condemnation of Hamas, not even a mention of the Palestinian Islamist movement by name, which angers Israel and the US.

Israel’s civilian-military leadership vowed to “eliminate” Hamas after the attack which killed 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures available from Israeli authorities. Another approximately 250 people were abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip, of whom over a hundred were released at the end of November. There are still 129 hostages, according to the Israeli authorities.

According to Hamas’ health ministry, Israeli military operations have since killed 20,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, including at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women.