Monday December 11, 2023
A fuel tanker waits to cross at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Sunday
Representatives of member countries of the UN Security Council are due to visit the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip today, according to reports, days after a council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the territory was defeated by a United States veto.
The visit to the Rafah border crossing is being arranged by the United Arab Emirates – which drafted last week’s resolution – whose UN ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said the aim of the trip is to “learn first-hand what is needed in terms of a humanitarian operations scale-up”.
Nusseibeh added it is not an official Security Council visit, Reuters reports.
According to UAE outlet The National, the only countries on the 15-member council not to join are France, the US and Gabon.
A US spokesman told Reuters that it is “working around the clock to try to improve the situation on the ground”.