World leaders, international rights groups and United Nations officials have criticised the United States for vetoing a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and failing to halt the war that has killed more than 17,400 Palestinians and about 1,100 people in Israel since October 7. A UN resolution on the pause in hostilities failed to pass on Friday at the UN Security Council after the United States vetoed the proposal and Britain abstained. PalestinePalestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said it was \u201ca disgrace and another blank cheque given to the occupying state to massacre, destroy and displace\u201d. Palestine\u2019s UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the UNSC that the result of the vote was \u201cdisastrous\u201d. \u201cIf you are against the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian people you must stand against this war. And if you support it then you are enabling this destruction and displacement regardless of your intentions. Millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance. Every single one of them is sacred, worth saving.\u201d Hamas strongly condemned the US veto, saying it considers Washington\u2019s move \u201cunethical and inhumane\u201d. \u201cThe US obstruction of the issuance of a ceasefire resolution is a direct participation with the occupation in killing our people and committing more massacres and ethnic cleansing,\u201d Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas\u2019s political bureau, said in a statement. IsraelIsrael\u2019s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan did not address the UNSC after the vote, but in a statement said: \u201cA ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.\u201d United StatesDeputy US ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council that the draft resolution was a rushed, imbalanced text \u201cthat was divorced from reality, that would not move the needle forward on the ground in any concrete way\u201d. \u201cWe do not support this resolution\u2019s call for an unsustainable ceasefire that will only plant the seeds for the next war,\u201d he said. Amnesty InternationalAgnes Callamard, Amnesty\u2019s secretary general: \u201cBy vetoing this resolution, the US has displayed a callous disregard for civilian suffering in the face of a staggering death toll, extensive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe happening in the occupied Gaza Strip.\u201d Doctors Without BordersAvril Benoit, executive director of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) USA: \u201cBy vetoing this resolution, the US stands alone in casting its vote against humanity. The US veto stands in sharp contrast to the values it professes to uphold. By continuing to provide diplomatic cover for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, the US is signaling that international humanitarian law can be applied selectively \u2014 and that the lives of some people matter less than the lives of others \u2026. The US veto makes it complicit in the carnage in Gaza.\u201d Human Rights WatchThe international rights groups released a statement saying: \u201cBy continuing to provide Israel with weapons [and] diplomatic cover as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the US risks complicity in war crimes.\u201d Posting on X, HRW\u2019s former executive director, Kenneth Roth, said: \u201cThe US government vetoes a UN Security Council call for a Gaza ceasefire. The US cites Israel\u2019s right to defend itself from Hamas, but does Biden really think that pummeling Palestinian civilians in Gaza is accomplishing that? Or building the next Hamas?\u201d United KingdomBritain\u2019s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country abstained because the resolution had no condemnation of Hamas. \u201cIsrael needs to be able to address the threat posed by Hamas and it needs to do so in a manner that abides by international humanitarian law so that such an attack can never be carried out again,\u201d she told the UNSC. United Arab EmiratesThe UAE\u2019s deputy UN ambassador Mohamed Abushahab asked the UNSC: \u201cWhat is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza? Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?\u201d IranForeign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the threat of an \u201cuncontrollable explosion\u201d of the situation in the Middle East, after the US veto, the AFP news agency reported. \u201cAs long as America supports the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) and the continuation of the war there is a possibility of an uncontrollable explosion in the situation of the region,\u201d Amirabdollahian told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a phone call, according to a ministry statement. ChinaPermanent representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, told the council: \u201cCondoning the continuation of fighting while claiming to care about the lives and safety of people in Gaza is self-contradictory. Condoning the continuation of fighting while advocating for the prevention of the spillover effects of the conflict is self-deceiving. Condoning the continuation of fighting while making references to the protection of women and children and human rights is hypocritical. All these once again show us what double standards are.\u201d RussiaAmbassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said: \u201cOur colleagues from the USA have literally before our eyes issued a death sentence to thousands if not tens of thousands more civilians in Palestine and Israel.\u201d FranceAmbassador to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, said at the UNSC: \u201cUnfortunately once again this council has failed with a lack of unity, and by refusing to commit to negotiations the crisis in Gaza is getting worse and the council is not completing its mandate under the charter.\u201d TurkeyMinister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan said the US is now left alone on the Gaza issue after it blocked the passage of the resolution. \u201cOur friends once again expressed that America is now alone on this issue, especially in the voting held at the United Nations today \u2026 American political system is now helpless on issues related to Israel,\u201d he told state news agency Anadolu and national broadcaster TRT in an interview. Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand\u201cUS has blocked UN Security Council resolution calling for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, seemingly unmoved by shocking death & injury toll & destruction of homes & community infrastructure,\u201d she posted on X. Craig Mokhiber, former head of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) office in New York\u201cOn the eve of the 75th Anniversary of the Genocide Convention, the US has again vetoed a ceasefire in the UN Security Council, thereby demonstrating its further complicity in the #genocide in #Palestine. Thousands have died since its last veto & more will die now,\u201d he said in a post on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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