A UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a pause in the Israel-Hamas war was postponed again on Wednesday as members continue discussions on the wording of the resolution, AFP reported.
"The Security Council has agreed to continue negotiations today to allow for additional time for diplomacy. And the presidency will reschedule the adoption for tomorrow (Thursday) morning," said Ecuador's Jose Javier De La Gasca Lopez-Dominguez, who holds the council's rotating presidency.
The resolution was originally scheduled for a Monday vote, but the vote has been postponed several times as members of the council have been grappling to find common ground on the wording.
That resolution had called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, but Israel, backed by the United States has opposed the use of the term "ceasefire."
The last version of the text seen by AFP was a modified text that seemingly sought to salvage a compromise.
It was less direct, calling for "the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities."
A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, China, Britain or Russia, in order to be approved.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the United States is still working through whether to support the resolution.
Biden, who was asked by a reporter when Israel should move to a less intensive phase of its conflict with Hamas, pointed to the negotiations at the UN as a reason not to give a firm answer.
"We’re negotiating right now at the UN the contours of a resolution...a resolution that we may be able to agree to," he replied, according to CNN, adding, "That's still going on. I'll be happy to talk to you after that."
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.