The United States vetoed the resolution backed by almost all other members of the council. The US move took place as the UN chief has called the situation in Gaza a “humanitarian nightmare.”
Thirteen Security Council members voted in favor of a brief draft resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, while the United Kingdom abstained.
The vote came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move on Wednesday to formally warn the 15-member council of a threat to global peace and security from the two-month-long war on the Gaza Strip.
In the wake of the US administration’s stance regarding the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, said, “We do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire. This would only plant the seeds for the next war."
The world reacts to US veto
Following the US veto, Israel's Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, Gilad Menashe Erdan, praised the Biden administration.
In contrast to the Israeli official’s appreciation of the veto, the world diplomats criticized the act, expressing concerns over the ongoing condition in the Gaza Strip.
Criticizing the United States, Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said, “One can say many beautiful but empty words about democracy, human rights, peace, security, some rules, and order, but today, we learned the true value of these words as two members of the UN Security Council preferred to remain complicit in Israel’s brutal massacre."
In reaction to the veto, China, on Saturday, expressed its deep disappointment with the United States’ second veto of a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN, criticized Washington’s “double standards."
Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the UN, also stated, “Unfortunately, this Council failed again due to a lack of unity or by refusing to genuinely commit to negotiations.”
After the vote, Mohamed Abushahab, the UAE Deputy Ambassador to the UN, expressed his deep disappointment with the outcome, saying, “In the face of untold misery, this Council is unable to demand a ceasefire.”
Stressing that the 15-member body is growing isolated and departing from its initial goal, Abushahab asked, “What is the message we are sending the Palestinians if we cannot unite?” However, he noted that this disappointing outcome will not deter his country from continuing to implore Council members to act and bring the violence in Gaza to an end.
“Shameful insult to humanitarian norms”
The foreign minister of Oman, Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi, also noted, “The use of the veto at the Security Council is a shameful insult to humanitarian norms. I deeply regret that the United States should sacrifice the lives of innocent civilians for the cause of Zionism.”
Regarding the US veto, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed his “strong objection,” saying it is strange and beyond human sanity when there are parties who support and remain silent regarding the massacre of innocent civilians, including children and women.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was “deeply disappointed” by the failure of the Security Council to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel must put an end to its “brutal attacks and inhumane blockade of Gaza.”
Why did the US veto the resolution?
The US veto once more proved Washington is an accomplice to Tel Aviv’s war crimes, genocide, and war against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
It is the second time since the beginning of the Gaza war that the US has vetoed a resolution, aligning itself with Israel. The US claims a ceasefire would help Hamas to rearm and keep hold of its 138 hostages in the Strip.
On Oct. 18, a day after the bombardment of Al-Ahli hospital in northern Gaza by the Israeli Army, the US alone also blocked a similar resolution calling for a ceasefire presented by Brazil and argued that the text did not mention “Israel’s right to self-defense.”
The US vetoed the resolution despite the fact that the draft resolution required both parties (Israel and Hamas) to comply with international law. The unconditional release of the captives was another part of the Emirati initiative that Wood turned a blind eye to.
The US stood against the entire world by rebuffing the resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The US even did not heed its allies’ call to stop barbaric acts in the coastal enclave. It angered and disappointed its allies, including Persian Gulf Arab countries, France as a permanent member of the council, and Japan as a current member.
The United States has gone to the extreme in backing the criminal regime of Israel that the Medicines Sans Frontiers have described the US move as a “vote against humanity” and that “the US veto makes it complicit in the carnage in Gaza”.
After the Friday vote, Human Rights Watch also said the US risked “complicity in war crimes” by continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover.
Put in a nutshell, Washington is sacrificing the reputation of the US more and more by blindly backing a handful of ultra-right extremists in Israel, thereby making itself an accomplice to the ongoing savage acts in Gaza.
First Published by Tehran Times