US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood talks with his advisors during a UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York. Photo: AFP / Charly Triballeau
By Francesca Gillett & Nada Tawfik for the BBC.
The US had said it still has serious concerns over a draft UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, just hours before a planned vote.
The council was due to vote on calling for "urgent humanitarian pauses" on Thursday [local time] - but despite intense talks, it had not yet been able to agree on a wording.
The US said it was concerned the resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, could "actually slow down" humanitarian aid into Gaza.
It had "widespread concerns", it said.
All week, the Security Council - whose task is to ensure global peace and security - has repeatedly postponed the draft resolution aimed at bringing in some form of ceasefire, as wrangling continued over the language.
The resolution has already been modified to accommodate Washington's position - including with toned down language calling for a "suspension" rather than a "cessation" of hostilities.
The key sticking point on Thursday appeared to be over the text's proposal to have a UN mechanism to monitor aid into Gaza - something the Arab group of nations insists must be part of any meaningful resolution.
But the US feared that could take away Israel's control of the screening process - and it asked for another delay to allow time for discussions with Egypt on how a monitoring mechanism can work for all parties.
Currently, Israel monitors all aid and fuel deliveries to Gaza.
On Thursday evening, Nate Evans, a spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations, said the aim of the resolution was to "facilitate and help expand humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, and we cannot lose sight of that purpose".
"We must ensure any resolution helps and doesn't hurt the situation on the ground," he added.
US national security spokesman John Kirby said the US was still "actively working" on the draft resolution and a vote could potentially come in the next few hours.
Earlier this month, the majority of the Security Council - 13 of 15 members - supported a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but the US vetoed it and the UK abstained. The US, like Israel, believes that a ceasefire would benefit Hamas - and instead supports pauses in fighting.
But since then, pressure has been growing for fighting to be paused. Earlier this week, Hamas said the number of people killed in Gaza since 7 October had passed 20,000.
On Thursday, the UN's World Food Programme warned that Gaza was at risk of famine if the war continued.
It said more than one in four households in Gaza faced extreme hunger and the amount of aid getting in was nowhere near what was needed.
"The levels of acute food insecurity are unprecedented in terms of seriousness, speed of deterioration and complexity. Gaza risks famine," said WFP spokesperson Shaza Moghraby.
"We cannot wait for famine to be declared before we act. We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the opening of all border crossings and the resumption of commercial cargo to provide relief, put an end to the suffering and avert the very serious threat of famine."
Talks had been taking place in Egypt to reach a new truce - similar to the week-long pause in fighting last month that saw hostages released - but on Thursday they suffered a setback, when Hamas said it would not agree to a partial release of hostages for a partial ceasefire.
It said Palestinian groups had rejected the prospect of more hostages being released until Israel agrees to end the war. Israel has repeatedly rejected a permanent ceasefire with Hamas.
More than 240 Israeli hostages were captured during the 7 October attacks, when Hamas broke through the heavily-guarded perimeter with Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people. A total of 110 hostages were released in the truce last month.
*The story was first published on the BBC.
