UNITED NATIONS – The United States of America on Wednesday opposed the decision of the UN Security Council that calls for an immediate end to the war in Gaza because it had nothing to do with the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists in Israel in October 2023.
The council voted overwhelmingly for the resolution – 14 of its 15 members voted “yes” including US allies Britain and France – but it was overturned by a veto.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that the US had worked for weeks to avoid a vote on the resolution that was sponsored by the 10 elected members of this council, and expressed regret that the waiver language was not accepted.
“We have made it clear in all discussions that we cannot support an unconditional ceasefire agreement that has failed to release the hostages,” he said. “Hamas would see it as validating its absurd strategy of hoping and praying that the international community would forget about the fate of more than 100 hostages from more than 20 member states who have been held for 410 days.”
The resolution voted for “demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire to be respected by all parties, and reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
The emotional reaction to the veto by Palestinian UN ambassador Majed Bamya reflected widespread anger and disappointment at the failure of the most powerful UN body to demand an end to the more than 13-month war, which has killed more than 43,000. The Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, and left most of the area in ruins.
The absence of a ceasefire allows “Israel’s all-out assault on the Palestinian people and Palestinian land” to continue, Bamya told the council. “A ceasefire will save lives – all lives. This was true last year. This is even more true today.”
Emphasizing the tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths, Bamya asked, “Do they have the right to kill, and the only right we have is to die?”
He told the members of the council: “You see an attempt to exterminate the nation, to destroy the nation.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, argued that the resolution was “not a path to peace, it was a roadmap to more fear, more suffering and more bloodshed.”
He thanked the United States, a close friend of Israel, “for using its veto, for standing on the side of morality and justice, for refusing to abandon hostages and their families.”
The reason the council is meeting and “the pain people are asking (is because of) Hamas,” Danon said, stressing that Gaza’s only future is without the Palestinian terrorist group.
In a statement, Hamas strongly criticized the veto, saying that the United States once again showed “its direct involvement in the attacks on our people, participating in the killing of children and women and the complete destruction of human life in Gaza.”
“We want the US to stop this hostile policy if it really wants to end the wars and achieve security and stability in the region, as we have heard from the incoming administration,” Hamas said, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to end it. war in Gaza.
The Security Council adopted several resolutions on Gaza, including a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and demanding humanitarian access. The United States along with Russia and China have opposed several previous resolutions regarding the war.
In June, the council adopted its first resolution on a ceasefire plan aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas. That US-sponsored resolution accepted the cease-fire proposal announced by President Joe Biden, which America said Israel had accepted. It called on Hamas to accept the three-phase plan, but the war continues.
The Palestinian Deputy Ambassador blamed Israel, saying, “It is clear that Israel had no intention of accepting a ceasefire, and has found every reason not to cease firing.”
The 10 members of the council were elected in a statement read by the UN ambassador to Guyana, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, after the vote that they all supported the June resolution “with the expectation that an agreement to end the war would be agreed and implemented immediately.”
But after 10 months, the 10 elected members decided that the new resolution should go ahead and make a consistent request for an unconditional ceasefire that is not limited to any period.
Despite the US veto, the elected members stressed that the war in Gaza must end immediately, hostages must be released immediately, humanitarian aid must be delivered to all areas of Gaza and civilians and public infrastructure must be protected.
“Our joint efforts to end hostilities will not end,” they said.
The UN ambassador in Algeria, Amar Bendjama, who represents the Arabs in the council, said the message to Israel after the veto is: “You can continue your genocide.” You can continue your collective punishment of the Palestinian people with total impunity. In this room, he enjoys insecurity.”
But he vowed that the elected members would soon come back with a strong resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which cannot be enforced militarily – and he would not stop until the council acted.
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Matthew Lee in Washington and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.
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