The United States vetoed a crucial United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, as Israel expanded its scorched-earth offensive on Gaza City.
The resolution, approved by 14 of the 15 members of the council on Thursday, called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties”, the release of all captives held by Hamas and other groups, and a lifting of restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Drafted by the council’s 10 elected members, the resolution went further than previous iterations to highlight what diplomats called the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza after nearly two years of war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 65,141 people, according to Palestinian health officials.
As expected, the United States vetoed the effort. “US opposition to this resolution will come as no surprise,” said Morgan Ortagus, US deputy special envoy to the Middle East.
“It fails to condemn Hamas or recognise Israel’s right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimises the false narratives benefitting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council.”
Ortagus added that the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s official declaration of famine in the enclave last month had employed “flawed methodology”, hailing the work of the heavily militarised GHF hubs, where so many Palestinians have been killed while seeking food for their families.
After the vote, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said the US veto was “deeply regrettable” and had prevented “the Security Council from playing its rightful role in the face of these atrocities and to protect civilians in the face of genocide”
“Unfortunately, the Council remains silent at a great cost for its credibility and authority,” Mansour added. “This demonstrates that when it comes to atrocity crimes, the use of the veto should simply not be allowed.”
Algerian Ambassador to the UN Amar Bendjama also had strong words. “Palestinian brothers, Palestinian sisters, forgive us,” he said.
“Forgive us, because the world speaks of rights, but denies them to Palestinians. Forgive us because our efforts, our sincere efforts, shattered against this wall of rejection.”
The war in Gaza had, he noted, killed more than 18,000 children and 12,000 women, killed more than 1,400 doctors and nurses, and more than 250 journalists. Israel, he added, was “immune”, not because of international law, but because of the “bias of the international system”.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Ambassdor to the United Nations, Danny Dannon, said that Israel needed “no justification” for its war on Gaza.
Reporting from New York, James Bays, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor, said the vote was a “sombre” moment on the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, with many countries championing “multilateral diplomacy”, while the US insisted on taking an “America-first view of the world”.
“[It is] not a strong advocate … of the United Nations, cutting back much of the humanitarian funding to this organisation,” he said, noting how this had brought the organisation to one of the lowest points in its 80-year history.
‘Lost generation’
With its ground offensive on Gaza City, which started Tuesday, Israel appears to be intent on killing any hopes of a ceasefire.
The Israeli military, which has said multiple times that it wants to definitively crush Hamas, has not given a specific timeline for the offensive, though there are indications that it could take months.
On Tuesday, a team of independent experts commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, with the intent to “destroy” the Palestinians.
Before Thursday’s vote, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, posted on X that the resolution would “not free the hostages nor bring security”.
Israel, he said, would “continue to fight Hamas and protect its citizens, even if the Security Council prefers to turn a blind eye to the terror”.
After the vote, he thanked Ortagus for exercising the US veto.
Danish Ambassador to the UN Christina Markus Lassen underlined the gravity of Israel’s man-made famine. “Desperate mothers are forced to boil leaves to feed their children, fathers search the rubble for sustenance,” she said.
“People are killed as they try to get food to survive. A generation risks being lost not only to war, but to hunger and despair.”
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