Washington will “unquestionably veto” a UN draft resolution calling for the protection of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said on the eve of a Security Council vote on Friday.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the US will "unquestionably veto" a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for "international protections" of Palestinian civilians in Gaza after scores were killed near the border with Israel. https://t.co/y4RfCcpTSp — dwnews (@dwnews) June 1, 2018

The text put forward by Kuwait on behalf of Arab countries was described by Haley as a “grossly one-sided approach that is morally bankrupt and would only serve to undermine ongoing efforts toward peace between the Israelis and Palestinians”.

Haley: US Will Veto ‘Morally Bankrupt’ UN Resolution That Slams Israel, Fails to Name Hamas https://t.co/1nyaGKMRsi — CNSNews.com (@cnsnews) June 1, 2018

The vote is scheduled for 3 pm, 9 pm GMT on Friday.

The US circulated its own rival draft resolution blaming Hamas for the recent flare-up in Gaza and demanding that the Islamist movement and Islamic Jihad “cease all violent activity and provocative actions, including along the boundary fence”, according to the text seen by AFP.

It was unclear whether there would be a vote on the US text, which could fail to garner enough support.

Kuwait presented its draft two weeks ago, initially calling for an international protection mission for the Palestinians as protests turned violent on the Israeli-Gaza border.

At least 122 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during protests since the end of March.

Kuwait has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for setting up an international protection mission for Palestinians.https://buff.ly/2LL8qs1 Gepostet von The Palestine Chronicle am Freitag, 1. Juni 2018

Haley said in a statement:

“The United States will unquestionably veto Kuwait’s draft resolution.”

It would be the second time that Haley has resorted to US veto power to block a UN measure on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In December, Haley vetoed a measure that rejected President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem after all 14 other council members supported it.

Nikki Haley's veto was beginning of the end of US domination. U.N. Votes 128-9 to Rebuke U.S. Over Jerusalem Move https://t.co/yWVJ13eCae — Monisha (@MonishaMittal) December 21, 2017

The council has been deadlocked for weeks over how to respond to the violence against Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip – even as a UN envoy warned this week that the crisis could escalate into all-out war.

The latest escalation of fighting between Israel and Palestinian Hamas has pushed Gaza to the brink of war, the UN envoy for the Middle East warned the Security Council on Wednesday.https://t.co/SK694S3PO3 — News Dingo (@NewsDingo) May 31, 2018

Haley said in a statement:

“The resolution calls on Israel to immediately cease its actions in self-defense, but makes no mention of Hamas’ aggressive actions against Israeli security forces and civilians.”

She also delivered a blunt warning to European countries and other council members that choosing to “vote in favor of this resolution will clarify their own lack of fitness to take part in any credible negotiations between the two parties”.

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley chastises the UN for refusing to condemn the Hamas terror group’s launching of 70 rockets into Israeli civilian areas on May 29th https://t.co/3Nw0yyWWG1 — SonofRekhav (@Yonadav7) June 1, 2018

A draft resolution requires nine votes to be adopted in the 15-member council and no veto from the five permanent members – the UK, China, France, Russia and the US.

(Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, PC, Social Media)