US vetoes UN Security Council draft resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire

United Nations, June 5 (IANS) The United States vetoed a Security Council draft resolution that would have demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on humanitarian aid.

The draft resolution, tabled by the 10 elected members of the Security Council on Wednesday, won the support of 14 out of the 15 members of the council. The United States, which holds veto power, voted against it.

The draft resolution would have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, and the immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale.

The US veto drew criticism from Security Council members, reports Xinhua news agency.

Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said China is deeply disappointed at the result of Wednesday’s vote.

The draft resolution contains the most pressing demands of the people in Gaza and reflects the overwhelming voice of the international community, he said.

“The United States has once again abused its veto power, extinguishing the glimmer of hope for the people in Gaza and ruthlessly continuing to leave over 2 million people in darkness. It must face the questioning from the international community,” he said.

Wednesday’s vote result once again exposes that the root cause of the Security Council’s inability to quell the conflict in Gaza is the repeated obstruction by the United States, which has vetoed the council’s request for a ceasefire multiple times. And because of its shielding of Israel, several resolutions adopted by the council have not been effectively implemented, said Fu in an explanation of the vote.

“A veto by a single permanent member cannot stop the march toward peace. We urge the United States to face up to its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council, abandon its political calculations, and adopt a just and responsible attitude in supporting the council to take all necessary actions,” he said.

British UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country voted in favour of the draft resolution because the intolerable situation in Gaza needs to end.

The Israeli government’s decisions to expand its military operation in Gaza and severely restrict aid into the strip are “unjustifiable, disproportionate, and counter-productive” and the British government completely opposes them, she said.

“The Israeli government says it has opened up aid access with this new system. But Palestinians desperate to feed their families have been killed as they try to reach the very few aid sites that have been permitted by Israel. This is inhumane,” said Woodward, referring to the US-run, Israeli-approved Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid scheme that has led to scores of deaths and injuries among Palestinians seeking aid.

Britain supports the UN call for immediate and independent investigations into these incidents and for perpetrators to be held accountable, she said, adding that Israel needs to end its restrictions on aid and let the world body carry out its humanitarian operations in Gaza.

Algerian UN ambassador Amar Bendjama said the draft resolution was not the voice of the few, but the collective will of the entire world.

“It was a message to the people of Palestine: you are not alone. And it was a message to the Israeli occupier: the world watched you. The shield of impunity, of immunity must fall,” he said.

“This (draft) humanitarian resolution, even in its obstruction by a veto, is a mirror — a mirror that reflects the agony of multilateralism, and an urgent need to revive it,” he said.

Pakistani UN ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said his country deeply regretted the failure of the Security Council to adopt the resolution.

“It’s a sad day, another low in the history of this august body that is entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security,” he said.

The veto cast by the United States sends a dangerous message that the lives of over 2 million Palestinians, besieged, starved and relentlessly bombarded, are dispensable, he said. “This will remain not only a moral stain on the conscience of this council but a fateful moment of political abdication that will reverberate for generations.”

While the Security Council deliberated and delayed, Gaza has been decimated, said the ambassador. “This is no longer a humanitarian crisis. It is a collapse of humanity, and of international law and of all that this council is supposed to stand for.”

“Let us be clear: this failure will not go down in records as a mere procedural footnote. It will be remembered as complicity; a green light for continued annihilation; a moment where the entire world was expecting action, but yet again, this council was blocked and prevented by one member from carrying out its responsibility,” said Ahmad.

–IANS

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