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Reports: UN Security Council resolution in works to end Gaza fighting
As the violence between Israel and Hamas continued yesterday, reports emerged over efforts by the UK, France, Germany and the United States to draft a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution to bring about an end to the fighting.
Apparently, the suggestion began as a European initiative after ceasefire talks in Cairo collapsed when Hamas breached a truce on Tuesday. Yesterday, the initiative reportedly received the backing of the United States as well. A UN Security Council resolution is considered binding and indeed such a declaration was instrumental in bringing the Second Lebanon War to an end in 2006.
According to Haaretz, a draft was circulated to diplomats after Israeli officials had been briefed on its contents. The report says that a leaked draft calls for an “immediate, sustainable” ceasefire. It proposes that the Palestinian Authority (PA) be handed control of the Gaza Strip, including the provision that it would be the only authority to approve the supply of weapons and munitions in Gaza. Meanwhile, Gaza’s border crossings would be opened and according to AP, monitored by the European Union (EU).
Importantly, Haaretz says that the final paragraph of the draft calls for “renewed and urgent efforts” to “to resume the negotiations in order to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the vision of two democratic States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side on the basis of the pre-1967 borders in peace and security.”
However, AP emphasises that UN diplomats do not want a potential Security Council resolution to in any way undermine Egyptian efforts in brokering a long-lasting ceasefire. The indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian delegations in Cairo collapsed this week, but Haaretz quotes an unnamed Israeli official who said “Israel is currently pursuing the path of the Egyptian mediation … The end of the operation, we believe, must go through Cairo.” Meanwhile, Israel Radio news quotes a member of the Palestinian delegation this morning, who estimated that the talks in Cairo will resume next week.