US calls Algeria’s proposed U.N. resolution demanding Israel halt offensive in Rafah not helpful

UNITED NATIONS — The United States said Wednesday a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and halt to Israel’s military operation in the southern city of Rafah “is not going to be helpful.”

Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, circulated the draft resolution Tuesday evening to its 15 members after emergency council consultations on the escalating Israeli operation in Rafah.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s monthly Mideast meeting that “another resolution is not necessarily going to change anything on the ground.”

He said the U.S. is focused on getting an agreement on a temporary pause in the fighting and the release of some 125 hostages taken during the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel, and then working on a long-term end to the seven-month war.

Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama circulated the resolution as Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Rafah.

The draft resolution demands compliance with previous council resolutions that call for the opening of all border crossings and humanitarian access to Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

The draft resolution, obtained Tuesday evening by The Associated Press, also demands that the cease-fire be respected by all parties and calls for the release of all hostages.

Some diplomats said they hoped for a quick vote, even as early as Wednesday, but the U.S. opposition leaves the resolution’s future in doubt.

The United States has vetoed multiple resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, although it abstained on a call for a temporary cessation during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.