The longstanding alliance between the US and Israel, rooted in political, military, and economic ties, remains a cornerstone of US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Despite global outcry and condemnation, the US administration under President Joe Biden has chosen to maintain its unwavering support for Israel and its military actions.
As such, the United States has once again shielded Israel from accountability on the international stage.
The U.S blocked a statement put forward by Algeria to the UN Security Council that would have assigned blame to Israel for the killing of more than 100 Palestinians awaiting food aid in northern Gaza.
Palestine’s UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, told reporters that the statement was backed by all of the UNSC’s 15 members except the US.
Explaining the decision to block the statement, US Ambassador Robert Wood said, “We don’t have all the facts on the ground – that’s the problem.”
He said that the US is trying to verify the “circumstances around how people died” to see if “we can find some language that everyone can agree on”.
By blocking accountability measures, the U.S undermines the prospects for meaningful negotiations and perpetuates a cycle of violence and suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians.
The U.S also undermines the principles of accountability and human rights that the United Nations purports to uphold. It sends a chilling message to the international community that powerful nations can act with impunity, regardless of the human cost.
It emboldens hardline elements within Israel’s government and undermines moderate voices advocating for dialogue and peace.
Adam Shapiro, an Israel-Palestine analyst based in the US, opined that the attack by Israeli forces on Palestinian aid seekers in Gaza was unlikely to make the US administration of President Joe Biden change course in terms of support for Israel and its war.
“I’m sure there is concern in the White House about the reports … and what has clearly been a tragic incident that was entirely avoidable,” Shapiro told a news agency speaking from Washington, DC.
“There is absolutely no reason that Israeli soldiers should be opening fire on crowds of Palestinians seeking to get food and other humanitarian aid,” he said.
However, the mass shooting will not move US policy towards Israel while Biden is focused on reelection.
“I don’t think that this administration has any interest in moving things forward towards achieving a lasting, permanent ceasefire, and certainly one that would make a meaningful difference in the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.”
Adam Shapiro
“The Biden administration is very much on a timetable of what the American elections are driving,” he said, and a “decisive movement by the Biden administration” on Gaza was unlikely before the vote in November.
Guterres Calls For Independent Probe
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres stated that the killing of more than 100 Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City will require an independent investigation.
Mass shooting of aid seekers was condemned globally
Foreign ministries, aid groups and rights organisations joined the rising international condemnation of Israel for the attack.
Speaking in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ahead of a regional summit, Guterres added that he was “shocked” by the latest loss of life in Israel’s war on Gaza.
When asked about the failure of the UN Security Council to agree on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, he said that geopolitical divides have “transformed the veto power into an effective instrument of paralysis of the action of the Security Council.”
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