The United States has proposed a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council, urging an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. This proposal is tied to the release of hostages, as announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday evening.
“We’re pressing for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages. That would bring immediate relief to so many people who are suffering in Gaza – the children, the women, the men,” Blinken informed the Saudi media outlet Al Hadath.
“We actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that’s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that,” Blinken stated. “I think that would send a strong message, a strong signal.”
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Blinken is currently in Saudi Arabia, marking his sixth visit to the Middle East since the surprise attack by the Hamas militant group on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The proposal's announcement follows a month after the United States once more employed its veto power on a draft resolution in the UN Security Council, which sought a cease-fire in the ongoing five-month-long war.
During that period, the US advocated for its own cease-fire proposal, which included a hostage-exchange arrangement.
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“Of course, we stand with Israel and its right to defend itself… but at the same time, it’s imperative that the civilians who are in harm’s way and who are suffering so terribly — that we focus on them, that we make them a priority, protecting the civilians, getting them humanitarian assistance,” Blinken emphasized.
Blinken's current diplomatic mission coincides with ongoing discussions in Qatar, where mediators convened for a third consecutive day on Wednesday in attempts to broker a cease-fire, though signs of an imminent agreement remain scarce.
The plan under consideration in Qatar aims to temporarily halt hostilities while Israeli hostages are swapped for Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid is intensified.
