\n<\/p>\n
For the second day in a row, the United Nations Security Council delayed a vote on a resolution calling for Israel and Hamas to provide greater access for more humanitarian aid, and pauses in the fighting to make that possible, as diplomats wrestled with the United States on what it might allow to pass.<\/p>\n
The announcement<\/a> of a delay on Tuesday followed hours of intense, closed-door negotiations and a Security Council session in which diplomats discussed the war in Gaza. It also followed days of negotiations since Friday, when the United Arab Emirates, which put forth the resolution, circulated the text among members.<\/p>\n The draft resolution called for suspending the fighting long enough to allow the safe delivery of humanitarian relief to Gaza via land, air and sea and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas. It also called for the establishment of a United Nations monitoring system to screen the aid deliveries.<\/p>\n The proposed monitoring of aid by the U.N. has turned out to be the major obstacle for the United States, and the decision has now been referred to the White House, resulting in the multiple delays on Tuesday, according to several Security Council diplomats, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.<\/p>\n The diplomats said Israel was pressuring the United States not to accept putting the U.N. in charge of inspecting aid deliveries to Gaza, because it would effectively leave Israel with no role in screening them. According to the Security Council diplomats, if a concession on this issue is not reached before a vote is held on Wednesday, the United States could veto the resolution.<\/p>\n Currently, the 100 or so trucks that enter Gaza each day travel from Egypt to Israel for inspection, then return to Egypt and snake their way to the Rafah border \u2014 a process that many diplomats and U.N. officials said was untenable and was slowing down the delivery of much-needed aid.<\/p>\n A senior U.S. official said Washington was still poring over the text of the resolution late Tuesday night as negotiations continued. The official confirmed that the U.N. inspections were among the points of contention.<\/p>\n Other changes sought by the United States include wording about the fighting \u2014 changing \u201ccessation\u201d of hostilities to \u201cpauses,\u201d for example. American diplomats have opposed any language implying that Israel must end the war, because they say that would allow Hamas to regroup.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuing to negotiate in earnest, we have long advocated for a massive scaling-up of humanitarian aid into Gaza, as our actions on the ground have shown,\u201d said Nate Evans, the spokesman for the U.S. mission to the U.N. He added that American diplomacy had helped open the Kerem Shalom crossing for aid deliveries from Israel since Sunday.<\/p>\n Much of the discussion around the resolution has focused on the need for the council to act, as dire conditions get even worse for more than two million Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Tor Wennesland, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the council on Tuesday that there was a \u201chuman catastrophe on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n The United States has been the only member of the Security Council to block demands for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, vetoing two such resolutions. At the General Assembly last week, when an overwhelming majority of 153 countries voted in favor of a cease-fire, the United States was among 10 countries to vote against the measure<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pressure has been building on the Biden administration, internationally and domestically, to do more to help Palestinian civilians and to help end the war. A New York Times\/Siena College poll published on Tuesday<\/a> found that 57 percent of Americans disapproved of the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the war.<\/p>\n The negotiations before the latest vote focused on finding a middle ground that would have a meaningful effect in Gaza, diplomats said.<\/p>\n