The majority of members voted to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 29,000 people.
The United States has vetoed another draft UN Security Council resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, blocking the call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Arab countries, led by Algeria, put the draft resolution to a vote on Tuesday, hoping it would not be adopted after the United States – Israel’s main ally – warned it would not support the text and proposed a competing project instead.
The United States was the only country to vote against the draft text, while the United Kingdom abstained. The other 13 member countries of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the text demanding an end to the war that has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, and displaced more than 80 percent of population.
For a UN Security Council resolution to pass, it requires at least nine votes in favor and no veto from any of the five permanent members: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia or China.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said her country vetoed the resolution, fearing it would jeopardize negotiations between the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, who are seeking to negotiate a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by the United States. Hamas.
She rejected claims that the veto was a U.S. effort to cover up an imminent Israeli ground invasion in Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah, where some 1.4 million displaced people are sheltering.
Introducing the resolution on Tuesday, Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, said the Council “cannot afford passivity” in the face of what is happening in Gaza, and that silence does not is “not a viable option”.
“This resolution is a stand for truth and humanity, against the proponents of murder and hatred,” he said. “Voting against implies approval of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted on them (the Palestinians). »
Algeria, the current Arab member of the Security Council, presented a first draft resolution more than two weeks ago.
The United States said Monday it had proposed a rival draft resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire and opposing a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah.
“Softening” of language
“The Algerian project has been negotiated for weeks,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s James Bays, reporting from U.N. headquarters in New York. “So people were quite surprised that the United States came up with its own project. »
Bays said the U.S. plan had not yet been formally presented to Council members and it was unclear if and when it would be put to a vote.
However, he added that in the draft text, seen by Tel Aviv Tribune, “there is a softening of American language… and for the first time, the United States is using the word ‘ceasefire,’ (previously ) controversial for the United States.”
Washington has so far opposed the word “ceasefire” in any U.N. action on the war, but the text of the draft resolution echoes language that U.S. President Joe Biden has said used last week in conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US draft resolution would see the Security Council “underscoring its support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible, based on the formula of the release of all hostages, and calling for the removal of all obstacles to the provision of large-scale humanitarian aid.
The US draft also warns Israel not to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, saying: “The Security Council should emphasize that a ground offensive of this magnitude should not take place, under the current circumstances.” »
The Algerian-drafted resolution, vetoed by the United States, calls for an “immediate” humanitarian ceasefire, based on last month’s interim order from the International Court of Justice, which requires Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in the territory. He also separately demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Washington traditionally protects Israel from UN action and has already vetoed two other Security Council resolutions since the war began on October 7.
