- By Nada Tawfik and James FitzGerald
- BBC News, New York and London
February 20, 2024, 08:41 GMT
Updated 1 hour ago
Image source: Getty Images
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Rafah is home to more than a million people who have had to flee other parts of the Gaza Strip
The US has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
It has also warned Israel against invading the crowded city of Rafah.
The US has previously avoided the word “ceasefire” during UN votes on the war, but President Joe Biden has made similar comments.
However, the US plans to veto another draft resolution from Algeria calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
More than a million displaced Palestinians, who make up about half of Gaza's population, are crowded into Rafah after being forced to seek shelter there.
Before the war, only 250,000 people lived in the southern city, which borders Egypt.
Many of the displaced live in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions and have little access to clean drinking water or food.
The UN itself has warned that a planned Israeli offensive in the city could lead to a “massacre”.
Israel began its operations in Gaza after an attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people and took more than 240 others hostage.
According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, 29,000 people were killed in the Israeli military operation in the Palestinian territory.
Washington is under enormous international pressure to use its influence to curb Israel's devastating operations after spending much of the war emphasizing its ally's right to self-defense.
While it has vowed to block the Algerian draft, its rival text expresses opposition to Israel's plans.
Talks on the US draft will begin this week, but it is not clear when or if the proposal could be voted on. According to the UN Charter, members undertake to accept and implement decisions of the Security Council – unlike decisions of the General Assembly, which are not binding.
It is the first time the US has called for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza at the United Nations, having previously used the word to veto previous resolutions.
The US draft also states that a major ground offensive in Rafah would lead to more harm to civilians and their further displacement, possibly to neighboring countries – a reference to Egypt.
It also said such a move would have serious implications for peace and security in the region.
The draft resolution calls for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible, echoing comments made by President Joe Biden in his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.
Mr. Netanyahu has so far resisted international pressure to reconsider the plan, vowing to free the remaining hostages and defeat Hamas across the Gaza Strip.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, has warned that the exercise will begin unless Hamas releases all of its hostages by March 10. The date marks the beginning of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
The Arab group of states says the Security Council cannot turn a deaf ear to the pleas of the international community calling for a ceasefire.