The United States vetoed a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of all hostages and the resumption of full-scale humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave on Wednesday.
Ten non-permanent members of the 15-seat council had put forth the resolution for a vote. It was the first time since president Donald Trump took office that the council had considered a ceasefire resolution on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The US was the only member to vote against the measure; the other 14 members of the council, including Russia, voted in favour, highlighting Washington’s isolation on the global stage over its policy of unconditional support of Israel.
“We believe this text reflects the consensus shared by all council members that the war in Gaza has to come to an immediate halt, all hostages must be immediately and unconditionally released, and civilians in Gaza must not starve and must have full and unimpeded access to aid,” said a joint statement from the 10 non-permanent members, which was read by Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Zbogar, at the council meeting before the vote.
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To be adopted, Security Council resolution must receive nine votes in favour and no vetoes from the five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Since the war broke out after the October 7th, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, the US has vetoed four council resolutions calling for a ceasefire and has abstained from one, allowing it to pass, last June.
Dorothy Camille Shea, the interim US representative at the UN, repeated Washington’s message that Israel had the right to defend itself. She blamed Hamas for the suffering of Palestinians, saying the war would end if the group surrendered.
“Any product that undermines our close ally Israel’s security is a non-starter,” Ms Shea said, explaining the “no” vote.
Diplomats at the UN have watched in fury and frustration as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated to levels where children are starving. Since March, Israel had enforced a ban on all aid delivery into the territory, facing global backlash and accusations that its army was committing war crimes by weaponising food and essential aid.
Israel justified blocking aid deliveries by claiming that Hamas hijacks them and has denied international assessments that Palestinians are on the brink of famine.
Council members have also been frustrated at the United States for blocking the body from acting in a deadly war that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, said Gaza officials, whose numbers do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Unicef said this week that 50,000 children had been killed or injured in Gaza since the war began.
The council members say, publicly and privately, that the United States is standing in the way of the will of the majority of the member states at the UN
“Today, the elected members of the council have stood with clarity, with conviction, with courage – they are the proud bearer of moral legitimacy,” said Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, the only Arab representative in the council. He said the resolution was not “the voice of the few, but the collective will of the entire world “.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told reporters before the council meeting Wednesday that the resolution “doesn’t advance humanitarian relief – it undermines it.” He said , “It ignores a working system in favour of political agendas.”
A new US-Israeli backed effort to control and distribute limited aid in Gaza through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was suspended Wednesday, after a week of chaos and deadly violence.
Gaza officials said that on June 1st, Israeli soldiers shot and killed more than 20 Palestinians standing in line to receive aid. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots toward “suspects” who approached them.
On Tuesday, at least 27 people were killed as Palestinians walked toward a new food distribution site in southern Gaza, Gaza health officials said. Israel said its forces had fired near “a few” people who had strayed from the route to the site and did not respond to warning shots.
The UN has called for an independent investigation into the killings and has denounced this aid-distribution effort, saying that it violates international laws protecting the unhindered flow of aid and access for aid agencies in conflict zones.
“The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat,” the UN’s top humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on Wednesday. “We must be allowed to do our jobs. We have the teams, the plan, the supplies and the experience.”
The Trump administration has been trying without success to mediate a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. This week, Hamas – which has said it is willing to free the Israeli and foreign captives in Gaza as part of a broader deal – rejected the American plan, demanding guarantees for a permanent end to the war. – This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
