US Vetoes UNSC Ceasefire Resolution In Israel-Hamas War For Third Time
The United States once again vetoed a ceasefire resolution. This is the third time US is vetoing a draft United Nations Security Council draft resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Instead, US pushed the 15-member body of the Security Council to call for a temporary ceasefire with the release of all the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
13-member of the UNSC voted in favour of the ceasefire resolution drafted by Algeria. While Washington vetoed, Britain abstained from voting.
Talking about the draft resolution, UN Ambassador of Algeria, Amar Bendjama said, “a vote in favor of this draft resolution is support to the Palestinians right to life. Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted upon them”.
Earlier US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that an unconditional ceasefire without the any agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will only extend the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Responding to the US veto, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the Security Council that “the message given today to Israel with this veto is that it can continue to get away with murder”.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the word ceasefire was being mentioned “as if it is a silver bullet, a magical solution to all of the region’s problem”. He said, “a ceasefire achieves one thing and one thing only – the survival of Hamas…a ceasefire is a death sentence for many more Israelis and Gazans”.
Washington has now proposed a rival draft resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. The draft also opposes major ground assault by Israel in Rafah, as per Reuters. It is note that Israel has already started to bomb the extremely populated Rafah.
The US draft resolution to the UN Security Council also “underscore its support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released, and calls for lifting all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale”.
