United Nations, Dec 9: Brushing aside an impassioned plea by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a diplomatically isolated United States has again vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict.
The resolution received 13 votes in the 15-member Council with Britain abstaining on Friday but was cut down by Washington’s veto. The veto came exactly two months after Israel launched retaliatory attacks on Gaza for the terrorist onslaught a day earlier by Hamas, which rules the territory.
This was the second resolution on Gaza that the US vetoed; another was vetoed by Russia and China, and two failed to get the minimum of nine votes required to pass as the Council grappled with the crisis.
But last month, the Council adopted a resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in the fighting – a more limited cessation of hostilities with a specific aim – when the US, Russia and Britain abstained saving it from a veto after the failure of the four earlier attempts at an action on Gaza.
That led to a four-day pause – extended by two days – in fighting starting last month to allow relief supplies into Gaza and for the release of some of the about 240 hostages taken from Israel by Hamas and other terrorist groups.
Friday’s resolution backed by about 90 countries was proposed by the United Arab Emirates, whose Deputy Permanent Representative Mohamed Issa Abushahab asked, “What is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations” by being unable to pass the resolution.
Explaining the veto, US Deputy Permanent Representative Robert Wood said that it was calling for an “unsustainable ceasefire that will only plant the seeds for the next war”. Moreover, he said, it did not condemn the 7/10 Hamas attack on Israel or affirm Israel’s right to self-defence. (IANS)
