Sunday, March 31, 2024

France to put forward UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire

France said on Saturday it would put forward a draft resolution at the UN Security Council setting out a "political" settlement of the war in Gaza, AFP reported.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne made the announcement during a joint press conference in Cairo with his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts.

He said the text would include "all the criteria for a two-state solution" of the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.

The three foreign ministers called for an "immediate and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas, according to AFP.

The Security Council this past week approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan and calling for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas.

The resolution passed with 14 votes in favor and one abstention, from the US, which did not use its veto against the resolution as it has done in the past.

On Monday, the Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an "immediate ceasefire" in Hamas-run Gaza, where the health ministry says the death toll has reached 32,705, most of them women and children.

The US had previously 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.