The UN General Assembly is expected to vote Friday on a draft resolution submitted by the Arab group to demand an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire" in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid to more than two million civilians in the enclave, predicted diplomats.
The ten non-permanent members of the Security Council began preparing a draft resolution concerning the war after the most powerful UN body charged with maintaining international peace and security failed to take an effective position.
Despite 20 days of war and thousands of deaths and injuries, diplomats sought to use all available means to intervene.
Jordan has tabled a draft resolution to be voted on at the Emergency Special Session (ESS) on behalf of the Arab Group.
The draft text calls for an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access.
Palestinian delegate Riyad Mansour announced on Wednesday that the General Assembly is expected to vote on the draft resolution on Friday afternoon, hoping it would allow the General Assembly to work while the Security Council remains paralyzed.
The Security Council failed again Wednesday to address the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, rejecting the US and Russian resolutions.
The council is the UN's most powerful body, charged with maintaining international peace and security, but its divisions have left it impotent and scrambling to find a resolution with acceptable language.
The resolution prepared by the US, Israel's closest ally, would stress Israel's right to self-defense, urge respect for international laws, and call for humanitarian pauses to deliver aid to Gaza.
On Wednesday evening, Russia and China used their veto power against the US project, knowing it received support from ten countries. The UAE rejected the resolution, while Brazil and Mozambique abstained.
The Russian draft resolution, which was also put to a vote, called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" and unequivocally condemns the attacks of Oct. 7 and the "indiscriminate attacks" on civilians and civilian targets in Gaza.
In that vote, four countries voted in favor – Russia, China, the UAE, and Gabon. The United States and the UK voted against it, and nine countries abstained.
The resolution wasn't adopted because it failed to get the minimum nine "yes" votes.
The failure of the two resolutions followed the council's rejections last week of a Russian resolution that didn't mention Hamas and also failed to get nine "yes" votes and a widely supported Brazilian resolution vetoed by the US that would have condemned the Hamas attacks and all violence against civilians and called for "humanitarian pauses."
Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia justified the veto by saying that the US draft resolution could be interpreted as the Security Council's support for Israel's plans to start a ground operation in Gaza.
Nebenzia warned that Israel's prospective forceful operation in Gaza carried out in the current manner and with gross violations of human laws and massive loss of civilian life, risks provoking a larger conflict that could encompass the entire region and even go beyond its borders.
Whereas the Chinese delegate Zhang Jun said the US draft resolution was "out of balance" and "deeply divisive" on the urgent issue of ending the fighting.
He called it "evasive on the most urgent issue of ending the fighting," saying it does not reflect the world's strongest calls for a ceasefire or an end to the fighting and does not help resolve the issue.
"At this moment, ceasefire is not just a diplomatic term. It means the life and death of many civilians."
After the double veto, the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the 15-member council that Washington was deeply disappointed that Russia and China vetoed this resolution.
"Though today's vote was a setback, we must not be deterred."
Also, US representative Robert Wood said that the "bad faith resolution" put forward by Russia lacked consensus and failed to reflect realities on the ground.
"It was regrettable that Moscow chose to further divide the Council rather than address the needs of Israel and Palestine," he added.
British delegate Barbara Woodward said the US draft would have had a tangible impact on the ground by calling for humanitarian pauses and the hostages' release.
She added that the British delegation voted against Russia's text as it failed to recognize Israel's right to self-defense.
The deep divisions in the Security Council caused frustration among several diplomats.
A diplomat said France tried vainly to persuade Russia and the US to withdraw their texts before referring them to a vote.
Meanwhile, the UAE Ambassador, Lana Nusseibeh, said the UN and humanitarian organizations have made clear that what is essential is a humanitarian ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and sustained humanitarian access to Gaza.
Nusseibeh said there were "dozens of statements imploring this council to assign the same value to Palestinian life as it does to Israeli life," adding: "We cannot allow any equivocation on this point."
In response, Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan thanked the US and other nations that supported its resolution for condemning "savage genocidal terrorists while standing up for the values of freedom and security."
He denounced those who voted against the resolution, saying they showed the world the Security Council is incapable of condemning "terrorists and cannot confirm the right to self-defense of the victim of these heinous crimes."
After the failure of the US and Russian drafts, Malta's UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, speaking on behalf of the ten elected council members serving two-year terms, announced they would be working on a new proposal in the coming days.
"As elected members of this council, we also represent the rest of the international community, and we have a duty and an obligation to act," Frazier told the council. "There is no time to waste."
