US vetoes UN resolution for cease-fire in Gaza, wants hostage deal to come first
The US has once again vetoed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, with America pushing its own proposal that would see a hostage-exchange deal secured first.
For the third time since the war began, the US opposed Tuesday’s resolution that had been approved by 13 other council members, with Britain abstaining.
The council has 15 members, of which the US is one of five with unilateral veto powers.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN, said America would support a halt to the war only when the fate of the 134 hostages remaining in Gaza is secured, slamming the current cease-fire resolution as a hindrance to the ongoing negotiations.
“Proceeding with a vote today was wishful and irresponsible, and so while we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy, we look forward to engaging on a text that we believe will address so many of the concerns we all share,” the ambassador said after the vote.
Thomas-Greenfield had already signaled over the weekend that the US would veto the Algerian-drafted resolution, which she claimed would only bring a temporary cease-fire rather than a permanent end to the war.
“Demanding an immediate, unconditional cease-fire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not bring about a durable peace,” the US ambassador said Saturday. “Instead, it could extend the fighting between Hamas and Israel.”
The US has offered its own proposal that calls for a cease-fire “as soon as practicable,” but only when the hostage negotiations in Cairo yield results and both Israel and Hamas agree to enact the deal, CNN said.
“Just calling for a temporary cease-fire that Hamas has not agreed to is not going to do anything to get the hostages out, which is why we can continue to pursue diplomacy with Israel and with the governments of Egypt and Qatar to try and achieve a temporary cease-fire that would secure the release of the hostages,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a briefing Tuesday on the veto vote.
“We think that is by far the most productive way forward. It’s what achieved the release of more than 100 hostages last year and what we think should be the productive path for moving forward now,” Miller added.
But the US draft resolution also warns of Israel’s impending ground offensive into Rafah, now Gaza’s most populous city, where 1.4 million refugees have gathered after fleeing the war in the north.
The American proposal says that an advancement into Rafah would “result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries, which would have serious implications for regional peace and security.”
After Tuesday’s veto, US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk was tapped to travel to the region this week to try to help secure a deal with Egyptian, Qatari and Israeli mediators, a senior Biden administration official said.
Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s UN ambassador, had called on the need for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to try to avoid more civilian casualties and to deliver more aid to Palestinian residents, who are experiencing “catastrophic” levels of hunger and starvation,” according to the World Food Programme.
“A vote in favor of this draft resolution is support to the Palestinians’ right to life,” Bendjama said before Tuesday’s vote. “Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted upon them.”
The death toll in Gaza surpassed 29,000 this week, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists.
The IDF estimates that it has killed around 12,000 Hamas members since the war began.
With Post wires
