US circulates UN resolution seeking immediate Gaza truce

Washington  (Palestine Foundation Information Center) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington has submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council that calls for “an immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip tied to the release of Israeli captives held in the Palestinian territory.

He made the remarks in an interview with Saudi media outlet al-Hadath in Jeddah on Wednesday, as pressure mounts on the US to broker a truce in Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

“Well, in fact, we have a resolution that we put forward right now that’s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of” Israeli captives, Blinken said.

He also expressed hopes that the world countries will support the US motion, adding, “I think that would send a strong message, a strong signal.”

Israel waged its bloody US-backed war on Gaza on October 7 after the Hamas resistance movement carried out its historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

During the past almost six months, the US has vetoed three draft resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli offensive, which has so far killed at least 31,923 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 74,096 others.

The US’s abuse of its veto power has drawn international condemnations and increasingly isolated Washington at the world stage.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of 19 Democratic senators, led by Senator Tom Carper, sent a letter to US President Joe Biden urging his administration to establish a “bold, public framework outlining the steps necessary” to establish a Palestinian state.

The crisis in the region had “reached an inflection point” that required the US to move beyond past “facilitation” of Israeli-Palestinian talks, the letter read.

It came days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “obstacle to peace” and urged elections in the occupied territories.

In remarks from the Senate floor, Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, said Netanyahu “has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.”