00:00 Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and prevent a full-scale Israeli assault in Rafa
00:06 are intensifying. Thomas Pickering is a former US ambassador to the United Nations, Jordan and Israel.
00:12 Current situation in Gaza of course is horrific. The number of deaths on both sides but particularly
00:20 the extraordinary number of Palestinians killed in the fighting in Gaza is something that obviously
00:27 the world community should be totally concerned about and working hard to try to stop the slaughter
00:34 and find ways on the path toward a peaceful solution to the long-standing issue between
00:42 Israel and the Palestinians. And the United States has vetoed calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
00:48 three times already. In its latest veto on Tuesday it said the draft resolution would jeopardize
00:54 the sensitive negotiations on the captives taken by Hamas and other armed groups. So how is the
00:59 US-led resolution fundamentally different from the one put forward by Algeria? The US explained that
01:08 its concern was that the question of dealing with the hostages was not included in the Algerian
01:14 resolution. I believe that it has attempted to try to include in its proposed draft that particular
01:22 issue as well as serious and deep cautions to Prime Minister Netanyahu about going into Rafah
01:32 without a very significant and well thought out plan to protect the civilians. Something that
01:40 appears to have been lacking up until now. And do you think behind this is because the US thinks
01:47 that issues lead the talks? I think that the US believes that the problem has humanitarian aspects
01:59 of great significance and very important requirements that should be met as soon as
02:06 possible. That secondly it is very important to move a process ahead which can then be evolved
02:14 into something that American administrations have been seeking off and on for 30 or 40 years.
02:21 Which is a peaceful negotiated solution leading to two states. A state of Israel and a state of
02:29 Palestine living in peace under the broadest kind of international support and guarantees.
02:36 And do you think Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will heed US calls to halt his plans
02:42 for Rafah offensive? It's an excellent question and so far he's been very negative on this subject.
02:48 It doesn't mean that we have seen the end of the process. Hopefully that President Biden whose
02:55 policy is I've watched closely evolved over the last three months is now seeking I believe a much
03:03 more robust position with respect to how and in what way the resolution of this tragic and
03:11 catastrophic situation can be achieved. And hopefully he will be able further to strengthen
03:17 the US commitment in that direction. I don't know whether they will submit their resolution to the
03:23 council or not but it has within it if I could call it the beginnings of a capacity to make real
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