US urges UN Security Council to support cease-fire plan in Gaza

The United States urged the UN Security Council on Monday to support the three-phase plan announced by President Joe Biden aimed at ending the nearly eight-month war in Gaza, freeing all hostages and sending massive aid into the devastated territory.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States circulated a draft resolution to the 14 other council members to back the proposal for ending the conflict that began with Hamas’ surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians.

“Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan and we call on the Security Council to join them in calling for implementation of this deal without delay and without further conditions,” she said in a statement.

The brief draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would welcome the May 31 deal announced by Biden and call on Hamas “to accept it fully and implement its terms without delay and without condition.” Hamas has said it views the proposal “positively.”

It makes no mention of Israeli acceptance of the deal, reports AP.

When Biden made the announcement he called it an Israeli offer that includes an “enduring cease-fire” and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza if Hamas releases all hostages it is holding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his hardline governing partners Monday the proposal announced by Biden would meet Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas, according to local media. The ultranationalists have threatened to bring down his government if Netanyahu agrees to a deal that doesn’t eliminate Hamas.

Netanyahu told parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that Biden gave an outline of the deal but not all the details, and he said there are “gaps.”

Biden said the first phase of the proposed deal would last for six weeks and include a “full and complete cease-fire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of some hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

American hostages would be released at this stage, and remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families. There would be a surge in humanitarian assistance, with 600 trucks a day entering Gaza.

In the second phase, all the rest of the living hostages would be released, including soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Biden said if Hamas lives up to its commitments, the temporary cease-fire would become a “cessation of hostilities permanently.”