Prolonged negotiations have led the UN Security Council to postpone to Tuesday a vote on a resolution that seeks a new ceasefire in Gaza, diplomatic sources told AFP on Monday.
The United Arab Emirates, which had introduced the latest text, requested that the vote set for 5:00 p.m. Monday be postponed to allow for complex negotiations to continue, and is now expected to be rescheduled for Tuesday, the sources told AFP.
That draft had called for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" in Gaza to allow "safe and unhindered humanitarian access" in the Strip.
The vote delay suggests UN diplomats have been unable yet to find common ground.
Most attempts in the Security Council to pass resolutions on the conflict in Gaza have failed. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, China, Britain or Russia.
Earlier this month, the Security Council attempted a vote on a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but the US vetoed the proposal.
In mid-October, a Russian-drafted UN Security Council resolution, that would have called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war in Gaza, failed to pass after it did not achieve the minimum nine votes needed in the 15-member body.
The text was controversial because, while it referred to Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, it did not directly name Hamas, whose terrorists murdered at least 1,200 people in Israel on October 7.
In late October, Russia and China vetoed a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on the war between Israel and Hamas.
The UN General Assembly, whose resolutions are non-binding as opposed to Security Council resolutions which are, last week approved a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.