The Arab group at the United Nations requested support for the draft resolution submitted by Algeria for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which is scheduled to be voted on in the UN Security Council on Tuesday. In return, the United States presented a draft resolution supporting a temporary ceasefire.

The Arab group said in a statement, on Monday evening, that the draft resolution submitted by Algeria would support the negotiations conducted by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, contrary to American claims.

It added that the UN Security Council must take steps and not ignore the calls of the international community and global public opinion.

Ite indicated that any justification would not be sufficient to explain the failure of the UN Security Council, issuing a call to all members of the Security Council to support the Algerian draft resolution calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

On Sunday, Algeria announced that it had submitted a “non-amendable” draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to be put to a vote next Tuesday.

American proposal

In the same context, Reuters said that it had seen a draft of a US draft resolution in the UN Security Council that “affirms support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible.”

Washington has so far opposed the use of the word ceasefire in any United Nations action regarding the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The draft resolution also states: “Under the current circumstances, any major ground attack on Rafah will cause further harm to civilians, and may lead to their displacement to neighboring countries.”

The American draft stated that such a step “would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore the necessity of not proceeding with such a major ground attack under the current circumstances must be emphasized.”

It is not yet clear if or when the draft resolution will be put to a vote.

European invitation

In a related context, European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell told reporters - yesterday, Monday - that 26 out of 27 European Union member states are calling for an “immediate humanitarian truce” that leads to a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza.

Borrell added that those countries agreed to "demand an immediate humanitarian truce that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance."

Borrell did not name which EU member state did not agree to the statement, but diplomats say Hungary blocked a similar statement a few days ago.

The Israeli army is preparing to launch a military ground operation in the city of Rafah, south of Gaza, where about a million and a half Palestinians are gathered, the majority of whom have left their cities in the northern Gaza Strip, due to the continuous Israeli bombing since the seventh of last October.

Since the seventh of last October, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which led to the death of about 29,000 people and more than 68,000 injured, in addition to the destruction of various cities and the displacement and starvation of the population.