US to oppose Arab-backed resolution calling for urgent Gaza ceasefire

The US is to oppose an Arab-backed resolution at the UN security council calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza saying it favours further humanitarian pauses and more time for its diplomacy to work to improve the flow of humanitarian aid and protection of the civilian population.

The US has not said formally it will veto on Friday the resolution tabled by the United Arab Emirates and seconded by Ireland, but it seems likely the US will do so if it is necessary to block the ceasefire call.

A motion needs nine votes on the 15-strong security council to pass, and no vetoes from any of the five permanent members of the council.

The highly charged debate on the humanitarian crisis comes after the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, took the extremely rare step of invoking article 99 of the UN charter that permits him to bring a threat to world security to the attention of the security council. Guterres has been both praised and reviled for raising the issue so directly.

Arab and Islamic states have been steadily building diplomatic momentum to table a resolution calling for a ceasefire, a move that gained greater urgency once the previous truce broke down on 1 December and Israel restarted its offensive in the south of Gaza. The motion also calls for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages and “ensuring humanitarian access”.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has admitted there is a gap in the protections intended to be provided to Gaza’s civilians and the reality in many UN shelters. He said: “There is a gap between what I stated in Israel regarding the protection of civilians and what we are witnessing on the ground now.”

He listed a series of measures that Israel could take to do more to protect civilians, some of which were raised by Joe Biden, the US president, in a call on Thursday with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

The UN has also welcomed plans by Israel to allow inspections of humanitarian convoys at an extra border crossing, Kerem Shalom, a measure that could increase the flow of aid.

The US is likely to argue that US diplomatic pressure is finally having an impact on Israel’s behaviour, and this is not the moment to disturb that moment by calling for a complete ceasefire.

The US also objects to some of the wording in the UAE motion including a failure to name Hamas as responsible for the 7 October attacks on Israel.

The Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, acknowledged the US had told Israel to do more to protect civilians but said he had not seen evidence that it was. “The number of Palestinians wounded since the aggression resumed has increased. People are still being killed in very large numbers, infrastructure struck, hospitals attacked and humanitarian aid trickling down.

“Yes, Secretary Blinken tried. He did tell us that the Israelis committed to try to do more to protect civilians, but unfortunately we have not seen that materialise on the ground. The right to self-defence does not mean a licence to kill with impunity.”

Emotions are running high and many in the Arab world have been outraged by pictures shown on Israeli TV of Palestinian civilians stripped naked and being interrogated by the Israel Defense Forces. “Israel media did not show the mass murder of Palestinian children and innocent civilians, or the mass destruction of Gaza. But Israeli media has no qualms about showing these savage images of Israeli occupation forces detaining and stripping civilians taken from a UN shelter in Gaza today,” said the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot.

Arab foreign ministers have also been lobbying senators in Congress and plan to meet Blinken later on Friday.

Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, ion a visit to the US said the UK opposed a ceasefire at this point. “If you stop now with Hamas in charge of even part of Gaza there can never be a two-state solution”.

Asked if he believed Netanyahu believed in a two-state solution, he said: “You will have to ask him that.”