The United States has vetoed a resolution at the United Nations calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, amid increasing international pressure on Israel to halt its offensive. This is the third time the US, Israel’s strongest ally, has used its veto to kill the Security Council resolution on ceasefire.
The US was the only country among the 15-member council to vote against the resolution, while the United Kingdom abstained. Arab nations proposed the resolution knowing it would be vetoed by the US, but hoping to show broad global support for ending Israel's war on Gaza.
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The resolution, put forward by Algeria, had support from over three-quarters of the 193-member UN General Assembly. It comes as Israel gets ready for an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
"A vote in favour of this draft resolution is support to the Palestinians right to life. Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted upon them," Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the council before the vote.
In addition to an immediate ceasefire, the resolution demanded the quick release of all hostages, rejected the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, called for unrestricted humanitarian access throughout Gaza, and reiterated calls for compliance with international law in protecting civilians. Without naming either party, it condemned “all acts of terrorism”.
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U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield signalled on Saturday that the U.S. would veto the draft resolution over concerns it could jeopardise talks between the U.S., Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"Any action this council takes right now should help, not hinder these sensitive, and ongoing negotiations. And we believe that the resolution on the table right now would, in fact, negatively impact those negotiations," Thomas-Greenfield told the council ahead of the vote.
In a surprise move ahead of the vote, the United States circulated a rival U.N. Security Council resolution that would support a temporary cease-fire in Gaza linked to the release of all hostages, and call for the lifting of all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid. Both of these actions “would help to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” the draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press says.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 29,092 Palestinians have been killed and 69,028 injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7.
