UN Security Council demands an urgent ceasefire in Gaza; US vetoes

In an attempt to isolate itself diplomatically while defending its partner, the United States on Friday vetoed a proposed UN Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

“We oppose this resolution’s demand for an unstable truce that will merely sow the seeds of the next conflict,” Wood stated.

Significant changes to the text that the United States had proposed included denouncing the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which Israel claims resulted in 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of 240 persons.

According to Barbara Woodward, the ambassador of Britain to the UN, her nation abstained since Hamas was not denounced.

UN Security Council demands an urgent ceasefire in Gaza; US vetoes.

She told the council, “Israel must be able to confront the threat posed by Hamas and it must do so in a way that complies with international humanitarian law so that such an attack can never be carried out again.”

Britain abstained while thirteen other countries supported a short draft resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates. The vote followed a rare move on Wednesday by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to formally alert the 15-member council to the global threat posed by the two-month-long conflict.

“If we are unable to come together and demand an end to the ceaseless bombardment of Gaza, then what message are we sending to the Palestinian people?” Mohamed Abushahab, UAE’s deputy ambassador to the UN, questioned the council. “What message are we sending to civilians around the world who might encounter similar circumstances, in fact?”

A ceasefire is opposed by Israel and the United States because they think it will only help Hamas. Instead, Washington is in favor of military truces that shield civilians and permit the release of captives that Hamas kidnapped during its lethal raid on Israel on October 7.

The draft resolution, according to U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood, was a hurried and unbalanced document “that was divorced from reality, that would not move the needle forward on the ground in any concrete way.”