The US on Thursday finalized a draft UN Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, traditionally the final step before asking for a vote on the text that would back international efforts to broker an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage release deal, Reuters reported.
The final draft, seen by Reuters, "unequivocally supports international diplomatic efforts to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that releases the hostages, and that allows the basis for a more durable peace to alleviate humanitarian suffering."
It was not immediately clear when or if the US would ask the 15-member council to vote on the text which has been negotiated over the past month. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China.
The US last month vetoed a draft resolution, put forward by Algeria, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
In mid-December, the Security Council approved a resolution calling for a temporary truce in Gaza to allow increased aid into the Strip and the immediate release of hostages who were kidnapped during Hamas' October 7 in southern Israel.
Earlier that 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.