US calls for immediate CEASEFIRE 'linked to the release of hostages' in Gaza - as Antony Blinken submits draft UN resolution

The United States has submitted a draft United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Anthony Blinked announced. 

Blinken, the US Secretary of State, announced the push for peace in the war-torn Middle Eastern region during a trip to Saudi Arabia early on Thursday morning. 

The US submitted the resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an 'immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages.' Hamas, the terrorist organization that control the Gaza Strip, took over 1,000 Israelis as hostage on October 7.

Ensuing violence since then has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths.

Blinken said: 'We have in fact submitted a resolution which is now before the Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire linked to the release of the hostages, and we very much hope that countries will support it.'

Blinken, the US Secretary of State, announced the push for peace in the war-torn region during a trip to Saudi Arabia early on Thursday morning

Demonstrators hold placards during a protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants, in Tel Aviv on March 14, 2024

Last week, Hamas presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the U.S. which would see the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences.

The group said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, elderly, and ill hostages in exchange for the release of 700-1000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the proposal. The release of Israeli 'female recruits' is included.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said last Thursday that a new Gaza truce proposal presented by Hamas to mediators was still based on 'unrealistic demands.'

Egypt and Qatar have also been trying to narrow differences between Israel and Hamas over what a ceasefire should look like - as a deepening humanitarian crisis has one quarter of the population in the battered Gaza Strip facing famine. 

Hamas said ceasefire negotiations had faltered over the past few weeks due to Netanyahu's rejection of its demands, which include a permanent ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal from the strip, the return of the displaced in the south of the enclave to the center and the north, and stepping up aid without restrictions.

In February, Hamas received a draft proposal from Gaza truce talks in Paris which included a 40-day pause in all military operations and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages at a ratio of 10 to one - a similar ratio to the new ceasefire proposal.

A displaced Palestinian man along with his belongings sits on a donkeycart amid the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment, west of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip on March 14

Israel also rejected that draft proposal, citing its long-held goal of not ending the war until it destroyed Hamas. Hamas insists an agreement should end the war.

Egypt is also seeking to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, increase entry of aid, and allow for the displaced in the south of the enclave to move to the north, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said.

Sisi, speaking in a recorded message, also warned against the danger of an Israeli incursion into the border city of Rafah.

Meanwhile, Australia said it would resume funding to the United Nations' main Palestinian relief agency, almost two months after pausing ties over allegations that some of the agency's employees participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Weeks ago, President Joe Biden said he was 'hoping' for an agreement for Hamas to release Israeli hostages and a Gaza ceasefire by the start of Ramadan on March 10.

'I’m hoping so, we’re still working real hard on it. We’re not there yet,' Biden told reporters. His wishes for it to happen before Ramadan did not come to fruition. 

He admitted negotiators are still 'far apart' on reaching a truce to release the hostages, hours after he announced the U.S. military would begin aid airdrops for Palestinians.

Biden wouldn't reveal details of the 'holdup' in talks and when he asked if there was still a chance of a negotiated ceasefire, he said: 'I'm still hoping for it. You know, it's not over until it is over'.