US is engaging in high-level diplomacy to avoid vetoing a UN resolution on critical aid for Gaza

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States, key allies and Arab nations are engaging in high-level diplomacy in hopes of avoiding another U.S. veto of a new U.N. resolution on desperately needed aid to Gaza ahead of a long-delayed vote now scheduled for Thursday morning. The U.S. has been struggling to change the text’s references to a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Hamas war. Another sticking point is the inspection of aid trucks into Gaza to ensure they are only carrying humanitarian goods. The current draft proposes a U.N. role, an idea Israel is likely to oppose. U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that “we’re negotiating right now at the U.N. the contours of a resolution that we may be able to agree to.”