IRIA News

The United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza between the Israeli military and Hamas. United States was the only UN Security Council member to oppose the resolution.

Thirteen of the fifteen United Nations Security Council member states voted in favor of the resolution which was put forward by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while Britain abstained from voting.

The United States pushed the Israeli narrative for not supporting the ceasefire resolution and reasoned that it would only benefit Hamas in regrouping itself and carrying out more attacks on Israel.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council that the draft resolution was a rushed, imbalanced text “that was divorced from reality, that would not move the needle forward on the ground in any concrete way.”

He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza. “We do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire. This would only plant the seeds for the next war, because Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-State solution,” Wood said.

#BREAKING United States vetoes Security Council draft resolution that would have demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and immediate and unconditional release of all hostages

VOTE
In Favour: 13
Against: 1 (US)
Abstain: 1 (UK) pic.twitter.com/hY0YcJ1JKF

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) December 8, 2023

The U.S. offered amendments to the resolution and advised the UAE to add a condemnation of Hamas for its October 7 attacks.

Britain abstained from voting

Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country abstained because there was no condemnation of Hamas in the resolution put forward by the UAE.

“Israel needs to be able to address the threat posed by Hamas and it needs to do so in a manner that abides by international humanitarian law so that such an attack can never be carried out again,” she told the council.

Israel welcomed its staunch ally’s opposition to the ceasefire calls. Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan did not address the Security Council after the vote, however, in a statement he said, “A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.”

‘Enough is enough’

During the debate, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, cited that the Israeli war had killed or wounded thousands of Palestinians in two months, saying ”enough is enough,” while Israel’s envoy said a ceasefire would only extend the war, and that the only option was to eliminate Hamas.

The war has ”besieged and destroyed and neutralized virtually all the hospitals. It bombed the bakeries. It attacked UN shelters. It attacked journalists. It cut off the electricity. It placed every possible impediment on humanitarian aid and access,” Mansour said.

Israel’s military said it carried out strikes on about 450 targets over the past day, the highest number reported since the end of a truce with Hamas a week ago. Israel’s military attacks have killed more than 17,400 people in Gaza — 70% of them women and children — and wounded more than 46,000, according to the Palestine’s Health Ministry.

The vote came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move to formally warn the 15-member council of a global threat from the two-month-long war.

”There is no effective protection of civilians,” Guterres told the council before voting. ”The people of Gaza are being told to move like human pinballs, ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival. But nowhere in Gaza is safe.”

”What is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza?” UAE’s Deputy UN Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab asked the council as he put forward the resolution. ”Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?”

Key Points about the UN resolution

• The United States vetoed a resolution put forward by the UAE and backed by over 90 member states.
• There were 13 votes in favor and the United Kingdom abstained.
• The U.S. was the only nation to vote against the Security Council resolution.
• Aid and rescue groups condemned the veto.
• The resolution expressed grave concern over the “catastrophic situation” in Gaza, and emphasized that both Palestinian and Israeli civilians must be protected. It demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of hostages as well as humanitarian access.

Aid groups criticize the U.S. veto

U.S.’s move to oppose the call for a ceasefire in Gaza comes at a time when civilian deaths are rising and aid groups are warning of shortages of water, food, and medicine in the besieged city. Several humanitarian organizations have denounced the UN Security Council for failing to call for a ceasefire and Washington for its opposition to the ceasefire calls.

UK-based Save the Children and seven other aid organizations say they were “appalled” at the failure of the UN Security Council on Friday to pass a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

“If implemented, this would have provided much-needed respite for civilians in Gaza who are under constant bombardment. This was a missed opportunity to stop the violence,” they said in a joint statement. “We are two months into the crisis and complete siege of Gaza. Gaza is now the deadliest place for civilians in the world.”

Amnesty International was among the rights groups condemning the U.S. for blocking the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International US, accused Washington of “shamefully turning its back on immense civilian suffering” and that the “civilians are paying the price with their lives.”

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said by vetoing the resolution “the US has displayed a callous disregard for civilian suffering in the face of a staggering death toll, extensive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. Callamard also criticized the US for sending weapons to Israel.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, condemned the move. “By vetoing this resolution, the US stands alone in casting its vote against humanity,” MSF said in its statement. “We are devastated by the UN Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza,” it added.

We are devastated by the UN Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza—blocked by a solitary veto from the United States.

“By vetoing this resolution, the US stands alone in casting its vote against humanity.”https://t.co/D2oIFaMoje

— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) December 8, 2023

Abby Maxman, Oxfam America’s president and CEO, said that the veto “puts another nail in the coffin for US credibility on matters of human rights”.