UNSC vote on Gaza faces threat of US veto

The UN Security Council will vote on a new draft resolution on Tuesday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, despite threat of a third US veto on such a text.

The document, prepared by Algeria, "demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties."

The vote comes as Israel prepares to move into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people have fled, as part of its mission to destroy Hamas.

However it is facing increased pressure to hold off, including from its closest ally the United States.

The draft resolution opposes the "forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population."

It additionally demands the release of all Hamas hostages.

Similarly to other previous drafts spurned by the United States and Israel, the new text does not condemn Hamas's October 7 assault.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The United States warned over the weekend that Algeria's text was not acceptable, threatening to veto it.

"We don't believe that this Council product will help the situation on the ground," US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said Monday.

"If this resolution does come to a vote, it will not go forward."

According to Wood, the passage of such a ceasefire resolution would endanger ongoing delicate diplomatic negotiations which could see the release of hostages from Gaza.

The United States instead began circulating an alternate draft, seen by the media on Monday.

While that text does include the word "ceasefire" -- which the United States has previously avoided, vetoing two drafts in October and December which used the term -- it does not call for the end of hostilities to happen immediately.

Agence France-Presse