The United States, which has the power of veto, informed the 15-member council that it does not support calls for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict ahead of the UN Security Council’s postponed decision on Friday.

The council convened to hear a briefing from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood stated, “This would only plant the seeds for the next war – because Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace.”

A Security Council vote on a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates was delayed several hours until 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) – just after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets in Washington with ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey.

“Today this council will vote, it will have an opportunity to respond to the deafening calls across the world to bring this violence to an end,” Deputy UAE Ambassador to the U.N. Mohamed Abushahab told the council.

In Washington, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters that if the Security Council fails to adopt the resolution, “it is giving Israel a license to continue with its massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.”

Along with demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the draft resolution also says Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations must be protected and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as humanitarian access.