UN vote on Gaza aid delayed until Thursday as US talks to Egypt

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -A United Nations Security Council vote on a bid to boost aid to the Gaza Strip has been delayed by another day, hinging on last-minute negotiations between the U.S. and Egypt over a proposal for U.N. aid monitoring as Washington seeks to avoid using its veto power, diplomats said on Wednesday.

While Egypt is not a council member, it borders Gaza and - until the past few days - was the only entry point for aid to the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people during the two-month long war between Israel and Hamas militants.

Israel inspects all humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt, but a Security Council resolution - drafted by the United Arab Emirates and backed by Egypt - essentially aims to dilute Israel's control.

After more than a week of negotiations and several days of vote delays, diplomats said the U.S. is unhappy that the draft asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a U.N. mechanism in Gaza "to exclusively monitor all humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza provided through land, sea and air routes of those States that are not parties to the conflict."

The council had initially been due to vote on Monday, Tuesday and then Wednesday.

During a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield asked for a delay to allow for U.S. diplomacy with Egypt. She also raised concerns that the aid monitoring proposal could slow deliveries, diplomats said.

She told the council that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to speak with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry later on Wednesday, diplomats said. Ecuador's U.N. Ambassador José Javier De La Gasca, president of the council for December, then postponed the planned vote until Thursday.

"Capitals that have equities in this file are engaging at the highest level of diplomacy to reach a text that will have an impact on the ground. Diplomacy takes time," UAE Ambassador to the U.N., Lana Nusseibeh, told reporters after the meeting.

Regardless of what the diplomacy yields, she said: "This will go to a vote."

'INTENSE' TALKS

Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from U.N. action and has already twice vetoed Security Council action since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that Israel says killed 1,200 people and saw 240 people taken hostage.

"We continue to engage extensively and constructively with a number of countries to try to resolve some of the outstanding issues in this Security Council resolution," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters earlier on Wednesday.

Blinken said the U.S. had been working "intensely" on the issue and that he had been "on the phones about this for the last the last couple of days."

"We want to make sure that the resolution ... doesn't do anything that could actually hurt the delivery of humanitarian assistance, make it more complicated. That's what we're focused on," Blinken said. "I hope we can get to a good place."

Washington is also wary of a reference in the draft resolution to a cessation of hostilities, said diplomats. The U.S. and Israel oppose a ceasefire, believing it would only benefit Hamas. Washington instead supports pauses in fighting to protect civilians and free hostages taken by Hamas.

Israel has retaliated against Hamas for the Oct. 7 attacks by bombarding Gaza from the air, imposing a siege and launching a ground offensive. Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Most people have been driven from their homes and U.N. officials have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The World Food Programme says half of Gaza's population is starving and only 10% of the food required has entered Gaza since Oct. 7. On Wednesday, the first aid convoy entered Gaza directly from Jordan with 750 metric tonnes of food.

Earlier this month the 193-member U.N. General Assembly demanded a humanitarian ceasefire, with 153 states voting in favor of the move that the U.s. had vetoed in the Security Council days earlier.

A seven-day pause ended on Dec. 1. During that time, Hamas released some hostages, some Palestinians were freed from Israeli jails and there was an increase in aid to Gaza.

(Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)