Difficult discussions in the UN Security Council about a possible solution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas
On Sunday, difficult discussions continued between members of the UN Security Council over a possible solution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with two competing draft texts on the table, diplomatic sources learned.
On Friday, Russia circulated to Council member states a draft resolution calling for an “immediate, permanent and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire” and “unhindered” humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip in a host state. This short text, which is available to Agence France-Presse (AFP), also “strongly condemns all violence and hostility towards civilians as well as all acts of terrorism”.
But he did not mention Hamas by name, despite the United States insisting that the Security Council unequivocally condemn the “heinous acts of terrorism” by the Palestinian Islamist movement. According to Russian UN Ambassador Vassili Nebenzia, some member states commented “positively” on the draft text during a closed session of the Security Council on Friday, others less so.
After launching calls for proposals for changes to the text, Russia finally asked Brazil, which holds the Council presidency in October, to submit its text for a vote on Monday afternoon. “We hope that the Brazilian presidency will confirm this quickly,” said Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitri Polianski on Saturday, sending a clear signal to the parties to the conflict. However, no vote was planned at this point, we learned from a diplomatic source on Sunday. To be adopted, a resolution requires the approval of at least nine of the fifteen members of the Council, without being vetoed by any of the five permanent members (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China).
In parallel with the Russian proposal, the Brazilians circulated another draft resolution, already amended several times, which contains an explicit mention of Hamas’s “terrorist” acts, according to diplomatic sources, who noted that negotiations were difficult at the time – the Palestinian issue regularly divides the Security Council . In theory, the Brazilian draft resolution, or any other competing draft that another member state wishes to propose, could be submitted to the Council for a vote following the Russian text if it is not adopted, or at a later date.