UNITED NATIONS (UN) — The United States has proposed a rival draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and opposing a major ground offensive by its ally Israel in Rafah, according to the text seen by Reuters.

The move comes after the US signaled it would veto on Tuesday an Algerian-drafted resolution — demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire — over concerns it could jeopardize talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Until now, Washington has been averse to the word cease-fire in any UN action on the Israel-Hamas war, but the US text echoes language that President Joseph R. Biden said he used last week in conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It would see the Security Council “underscore its support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released, and calls for lifting all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale.”

The United States does “not plan to rush” to a vote and intends to allow time for negotiations, a senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday.

To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China.

The US draft text “determines that under current circumstances a major ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries.”

Israel plans to storm Rafah, where more than 1 million of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have sought shelter, prompting international concern that an assault would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The UN has warned it “could lead to a slaughter.”

The draft US resolution says such a move “would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.”

Washington traditionally shields Israel from UN action and has twice vetoed council resolutions since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants. But it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting.

‘WARNING SHOT’
This is the second time since Oct. 7 that Washington has proposed a Security Council resolution on Gaza. Russia and China vetoed its first attempt in late October.

While the US was ready to protect Israel by vetoing the Algerian draft resolution on Tuesday, International Crisis Group UN Director Richard Gowan said Israel would be more concerned by the text Washington drafted.

“The simple fact that the US is tabling this text at all is a warning shot for Netanyahu,” he said. “It is the strongest signal the US has sent at the UN so far that Israel cannot rely on American diplomatic protection indefinitely.”

Israel’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the US draft.

A second senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US draft does not suggest “anything about the dynamics of any particular relationship, whether that’s with the Israelis or any other partner we have.”

The draft US text would condemn calls by some Israeli government ministers for Jewish settlers to move to Gaza and would reject any attempt at demographic or territorial change in Gaza that would violate international law.

The resolution would also reject “any actions by any party that reduce the territory of Gaza, on a temporary or permanent basis, including through the establishment officially or unofficially of so-called buffer zones, as well as the widespread, systematic demolition of civilian infrastructure.”

Reuters reported in December that Israel told several Arab states that it wants to carve out a buffer zone inside Gaza’s borders to prevent attacks after the war ends.

The war began when fighters from the Hamas militant group that runs Gaza attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In retaliation, Israel launched a military assault on Gaza that health authorities say has killed nearly 29,000 Palestinians with thousands more bodies feared lost amid the ruins.

In December, more than three-quarters of the 193-member UN General Assembly voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war. — Reuters

TAIPEI — The boarding of a Taiwanese tourist boat by China’s coast guard near sensitive frontline islands triggered “panic” among Taiwan’s people, a government minister said on Tuesday, but Taiwan’s military added it was not planning to get involved.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island’s rejection, has been wary of efforts by Beijing to ramp up pressure on Taipei following the election last month of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing views as a dangerous separatist.

China announced on Sunday that its coast guard would begin regular patrols and set up law enforcement activity around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, after two Chinese nationals fleeing Taiwan’s coast guard and who entered restricted waters too close to Kinmen were killed.

Six Chinese coast guard officers on Monday boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat carrying 11 crew members and 23 passengers to check its route plan, certificate and crew licenses, leaving around half-an-hour later, Taiwan’s coast guard said.

“We think it has harmed our people’s feelings and triggered people’s panic. That was also not in line with the interest of the people across the strait,” Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, told reporters on the sidelines of parliament in Taipei on Tuesday.

China’s coast guard, which has no publicly available contact details, has yet to comment. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ms. Kuan said it was common for Chinese and Taiwanese tourist boats to accidentally entered the other side’s waters.

“Boats like these are not illegal at all,” she said.

Kinmen is a short boat ride from the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou and has been controlled by Taipei since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, who set up the People’s Republic of China.

Kinmen is home to a large Taiwanese military garrison, but it is Taiwan’s coast guard which patrols its waters.

Taiwan Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters at parliament that to avoid a further rise in tensions the military will not “actively intervene” in the incident.

“Let’s handle the matter peacefully,” he said. “Not escalating tensions is our response.”

Kinmen was the site of frequent fighting during the height of the Cold War but is now a popular tourist destination, though many of its islets are heavily fortified by Taiwanese forces and remain off limits to civilians.

China says it does not recognize any restricted or banned zones for its fishermen around Kinmen.

China’s military has over the past four years regularly sent warplanes and warships into the skies and seas around Taiwan as it seeks to assert Beijing’s sovereignty claims and has continued to do so following last month’s election.

However, a senior Taiwan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters they believe China did not want to turn what was happening around Kinmen into an “international incident.” The official said Beijing seized on the Kinmen incident with the deaths of the two Chinese nationals an “excuse” to further pile pressure on Lai Ching te.

The pressure has also included Taiwan losing one of its few remaining diplomatic allies Nauru to China and a change in a flight path in the Taiwan Strait

But China was likely to continue increasing pressure on Taiwan ahead of Lai’s May 20 inauguration, the official added.

Chinese state media said Quanzhou Red Cross officials, accompanied by family members, arrived on Kinmen on Tuesday to bring home the two survivors from the boat which had overturned when it tried to out-run Taiwan’s coast guard last week.

China has never ruled out using force to take control of democratically governed Taiwan. President-elect Lai-Ching te and Taiwan’s government reject Beijing’s sovereignty and say only the Taiwanese people can decide their future. — Reuters