The United States said on Wednesday a proposed UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to Israel's military operation in the southern city of Rafah "is not going to be helpful". Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, circulated the draft resolution on Tuesday evening to its 15 members after emergency council consultations on the escalating Israeli operation in Rafah. US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters ahead of Wednesday's monthly Mideast meeting that "another resolution is not necessarily going to change anything on the ground".
He said the US is focused on getting an agreement on a temporary pause in the fighting and the release of some 125 hostages taken during Hamas' October 7 invasion of southern Israel and then working on a long-term end to the seven-month war. Majed Bamya, the Palestinian deputy ambassador, told the council meeting that adopting the resolution would be an important step "to force Israel to halt its military offensive and to withdraw its occupation forces, and to ensure an immediate ceasefire". Algeria's UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama circulated the resolution as Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from Israel's Gaza offensive.
Most have now fled, but the UN says no place in Gaza is safe, and humanitarian conditions are dire. The draft resolution demands compliance with previous council resolutions that call for the ope.
