The resolution also called on Israel and the Palestinians to continue negotiations to wrap up final issues by September, as called for by the United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russia.
It said that international and regional diplomatic efforts should be intensified.
“If it was up to us, we would love to see the Security Council acting on it immediately,’’ said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian observer to the UN. But he acknowledged US opposition would make that difficult.
The United States, one of the five permanent members on the 15-country council with veto power, signaled it would not back the resolution.
Key Middle East peace issues “can be resolved only through negotiations between the parties — and not by recourse to the Security Council,’’ said Rosemary A. DiCarlo, deputy US representative to the United Nations.
Also yesterday, The New York Times reported that the Israeli military has terminated a soldier’s military career after the fatal shooting of an unarmed 65-year-old Palestinian man in his bed during an arrest last week in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Soldiers apparently mistook Omar al-Qawasmeh for a Hamas militant who lived in another apartment in the same building.
The killing infuriated the Palestinians. It was the third death in the West Bank in a week for which the Palestinians blamed the Israelis, and it occurred at a time of stagnation in the peace process.
In an effort to control the damage, the Israeli military quickly expressed regret for the killing and promised to quickly carry out an investigation.
