US Vetoes Gaza Ceasefire for Sixth Time, as Death Toll Tops 65,000
The U.S. has once again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that calls for a ceasefire and captive release in Gaza, just days after a UN human rights inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide and the official death toll tops 65,000 people.
This is the sixth time that the U.S. has exercised its power to veto as one of the only five permanent members of the Security Council to quash a resolution calling for an end to the assault.
All of the other 14 members of the council voted for the resolution. It called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, for Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid, and for the release of all captives held by Hamas.
The U.S. said that the resolution failed to properly condemn Hamas. Israeli officials have claimed that the U.S. is currently in talks to split up ownership of Gaza with Israel to expel millions of Palestinians from the Strip and turn it into a “real estate bonanza.”
“It fails to condemn Hamas or recognise Israel’s right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimises the false narratives benefitting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council,” said Morgan Ortagus, U.S. deputy special envoy to the Middle East, ahead of the vote.
She said that other members included “performative action designed to draw a veto,” and rejected international food authorities’ findings of a man-made famine in Gaza.
Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called the vote “deeply regrettable.”
“This draft resolution represents the bare minimum that humanity, legality and morality dictate,” he said. “There is no right for Israel to massacre Palestinians. There is no right for Israel to commit genocide. There is no right for Israel to commit ethnic cleansing. There is no right for Israel to starve a people. There is no right for Israel to displace and dispossess a nation.”
The resolution was introduced by the council’s 10 non-permanent members, currently Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia. Representatives decried the U.S.’s veto.
“Palestinian brothers, Palestinian sisters, forgive us,” said Algeria’s representative to the UN, Amar Bendjama. “Forgive us, because this Council could not save your children. More than 18,000 of them have been killed by Israel.”
“Forgive us, because the world speaks of rights, but denies them to Palestinians. Forgive us because our efforts, our sincere efforts, shattered against this wall of rejection,” he said.
The veto only further isolates the U.S. and Israel on the world stage, with allies like France and the U.K. voting for the resolution.
Further, on Friday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to pass a resolution that would allow the president of Palestine to deliver a pre-recorded speech to address the session, with the U.S. and Israel voting against.
The resolution comes after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last month that the U.S. would revoke and restrict visas for the Palestinian delegation to the UN ahead of the body’s annual meeting in New York City this month. Experts have said that this decision violates the UN Headquarters Agreement with the U.S. that states that the U.S. cannot unilaterally interfere with the proceedings of the UN as a host country.