US urges UN Security Council to back Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan

The US on Monday (June 3) announced a draft Security Council resolution supporting the Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan outlined by Joe Biden last week, urging Hamas to accept it.

"Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan," said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

The draft text, seen by AFP, "welcomes the new deal announced on May 31, and calls upon Hamas to accept it fully and implement its terms without delay and without condition."

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Biden outlined on Friday what he called an Israeli plan that in three phases would end the bloody conflict, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.

Earlier Monday, the White House said Biden told the emir of mediator Qatar that he saw Hamas as "the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire" in Gaza, and urged him to press the group to accept it.

Hamas last week said it viewed Biden's outline "positively," but has since made no official comment on the stalled negotiations, while mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US have not announced any new talks.

Before Biden had made his Friday announcement, Algeria had last week circulated a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and a halt of the Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing the recent order to that effect from the International Court of Justice.

• Doubts grow over Gaza truce plan as heavy fighting rages