After Russia and China vetoed a US draft resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, the UN Security Council will decide tomorrow, Saturday, on a draft text that will clearly call for that immediate cease-fire in the Palestinian enclave, sources told AFP.
The vote on this text, which was drafted by several non-permanent members of the Council, will be held at 10:00 local time (17:00 Greek time), the sources said.
US for Israeli ground operation
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said this afternoon that an Israeli military ground attack on the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip risks “further isolating” Israel and harming its security in the long term.
Speaking on his departure from Israel, Blinken told reporters he had “frank talks”, referring to meetings with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A military ground operation in Rafah “risks killing more civilians. It risks wreaking further havoc on humanitarian aid. It risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing,” the head of US diplomacy said.
In a statement issued by the Israeli prime minister’s office earlier today on Netanyahu’s meeting with Blinken, the Israeli prime minister said Israel remains determined to send troops in a ground assault on Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have been displaced, and that Israel will do this with or without US support.
Netanyahu told Blinken that there was no other way to defeat the Islamist movement Hamas without the Israeli army advancing on Rafah. “And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if necessary – we will do it ourselves,” Netanyahu said, according to the Israeli statement.
Sources: APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters
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