The Cradle

Algeria proposed a draft to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 28 May that demanded Israel “immediately halt its military offensive” in Rafah.

Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s UN ambassador, said, following a closed-door meeting of the 15-member UN bloc on Gaza, that the aid for the motion was to “stop the killing in Rafah.”

Algeria’s draft “decides that Israel, the occupying Power, shall immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in Rafah.”

It also expressed “grave concern” over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, “with the famine spreading throughout” the strip.

Algeria’s proposal also calls to condemn the “indiscriminate targeting of civilians, including women and children, and civilian infrastructure,” demanding that all parties must “comply with their obligations under international law … in particular with regard to the protection of civilians and civilian objects, and the imperative to cease depriving the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance.”

The draft also calls for an “immediate ceasefire respected by all parties, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain.”

It also referred back to a ruling given by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered Israel to immediately cease its military operation against Rafah.

The proposed draft also demands the “full implementation” of prior UNSC resolutions, such as 2712 from 2023, which called for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip”; 2720 from 2023, which called for “safe and unhindered humanitarian access” in and throughout the strip; and 2728 from 2024, which called for an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan.

Diplomats claimed that the UN body could vote on this resolution within days.

Algeria’s draft follows multiple attacks on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah as Israel continues forward with its military operation.

An attack on Tuesday near Rafah killed at least 20 people, Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesman said four artillery shells targeted tents for displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.

On Sunday, Israeli warplanes opened fire on a designated safe area in Rafah, launching over six missiles on tents and killing at least 40 Palestinians.

To be passed, Algeria’s draft needs at least nine votes. Washington has so far protected Israel by vetoing three Gaza war resolutions and one granting Palestine full UN membership status.