The United States and Egypt were engaged on Thursday in furious last-minute negotiations intended to salvage a United Nations Security Council resolution that would call for a pause in the war in the Gaza Strip and allow more direly needed aid to enter the territory.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks, said that since Thursday morning, high-level negotiators from Washington and Cairo were seeking common ground on how aid would be inspected for weapons and other contraband before entering Gaza.
The United Nations has this week repeatedly delayed a vote in the Security Council on the resolution amid concerns from the United States that allowing the U.N. to inspect aid into Gaza would leave Israel with no role in the process, making the system unworkable. Other members, hoping to avoid a veto by the United States, have gone back to renegotiate the parameters.
Egypt, which proposed the resolution with the United Arab Emirates, controls the main entry point for aid into Gaza. A vote on the measure was originally scheduled for Monday, but was held off several times as Security Council diplomats engaged in intense back-channel negotiations intended to win U.S. support.
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