At the request of the United States, a UN Security Council vote on the United Arab Emirates’ resolution calling for a cessation in hostilities in Gaza and increased delivery of humanitarian assistance was delayed for the second time in two days, reportedly to allow more time for “negotiations,” the New York Times reported. The vote is now scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 21. On Dec. 19, to avoid a U.S. veto, the resolution was amended to replace the call for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” with a call for “the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
The White House, however, objected to the use of the word “cessation” and like Israel, does not want the UN to oversee monitoring the flow of humanitarian aid—food, water, fuel, medicine—or checking the content of cargo trucks entering Gaza. In his year-end press conference in Washington today, Secretary of State Tony Blinken snarled about the content of resolutions put forward to date, echoing Israel’s complaints. “I hear no one demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, lay down its arms and surrender. This would be over tomorrow if that happened,” he said. “How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor and only demands of the victim?” Perhaps because the “victim” has slaughtered 20,000 Palestinians and is slowly killing the survivors through starvation, disease, and homelessness while bombs continue to fall on them.
