The UN Security Council will support the resolution regarding Israel's immediate ceasefire in the city of Rafah - Rezazade

The Leader of the Iranian Opposition in Washington (NIC) Ali Reza Rezazade indicates that, outraged by an Israeli strike on Sunday that set fire to a camp and killed at least 45 displaced Palestinians, including children, many diplomats at the United Nations Security Council this week will support a new resolution that would require immediate ceasefire and cessation of Israeli military operations in the city of Rafah.

"But they will have to overcome the objections of the United States, which has the right to veto the Council and has signaled that it will not support the resolution in its current form," the expert notes.

The council held meetings on the war in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, first an emergency closed-door session on the Rafah camp strike, followed by a planned monthly open meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

One US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the United States would block the current version of the resolution, which it sees as unbalanced and problematic. He said the United States had proposed a number of changes.

In particular, the official said, the United States does not want to approve a resolution calling on Israel to completely halt its military offensive in Rafah, which Israeli commanders say is still a stronghold for the Hamas militant group. The Biden administration supports limited Israeli operations there.

As one of the council's five permanent members, the United States has veto power and has wielded it against three previous cease-fire resolutions since the war began in October. In March, the United States allowed a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire for the month of Ramadan to pass, with an abstention.

In recent weeks, as civilian casualties in Gaza have mounted, US officials have become more outspoken in their criticism of Israel's conduct of the war. At least 36,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombing and ground operations, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Health officials said that the majority of those killed were women and children.

Gaza authorities say at least 45 people were killed in Sunday's strike and its fiery aftermath when a fire tore through the Kuwaiti al-Salam camp, where displaced people were living in tents. Among the victims was a toddler whose charred and headless body was shown in a video confirmed by The New York Times.

On Tuesday, senior Biden administration officials expressed dismay at Sunday's strike, but said it was not part of a major ground operation and therefore did not cross President Biden's red line of withholding arms shipments to Israel.