The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on Tuesday on an Arab-backed resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
A vote on the resolution was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday, but was postponed to avoid another veto by the United States. Diplomats are trying to get the U.S. to either vote yes or abstain to pass the resolution.
The draft resolution on the table Monday morning called for an “urgent and sustained cessation of hostilities” to allow unhindered access to provide humanitarian assistance to the large number of civilians in need of food, water and medicine.
But that language is expected to be watered down to a “suspension” of hostilities or similar language to gain U.S. support, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.
A Security Council resolution is legally binding, but parties can ignore the Council's demands for action.
The United States previously vetoed a Security Council ceasefire resolution that received widespread support from all council members and dozens of other member states. Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, claimed the U.S. wanted peace between Israelis and Palestinians but was critical of the way the resolution would be implemented.
“It would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on October 7th. Colleagues, a senior Hamas official recently stated that the group intends to repeat the heinous acts of October 7 over and over again, unquote. And yet this resolution essentially says that Israel should simply tolerate this and allow this terror to go unchecked,” Wood said earlier this month.
“While the United States strongly supports a lasting peace in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support this resolution's call for an untenable ceasefire that only lays the foundation for the next war,” he added added.
Elizabeth Elkind of Fox News Digital and the Associated Press contributed to this update.