A UN Security Council draft resolution on Gaza proposed by the United States has been rejected.
Eleven council members voted for the resolution. Russia, China and Algeria voted against it and Guyana abstained.
As permanent members of the Security Council, the Russian and Chinese votes counted as vetoes.
The measure would have “determined the imperative of an immediate ceasefire” but those against it said it did not go far enough, saying it should have “demanded” a ceasefire.
Before the vote, the Russian Envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, pointed out that the US had vetoed earlier resolutions demanding a ceasefire since the war started on 7 October, and noted that the US resolution did not directly demand a ceasefire but rather described it as an “imperative.”
“To save the lives of the peaceful Palestinian civilians, this is not enough,” Nebenzya said.
He added that any council member voting for the resolution “will cover yourselves in disgrace.”
After the vote, US envoy, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Russia and China had opposed the resolution because they could not bring themselves to support the clauses in it condemning Hamas.
“This was the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, and a permanent member of the Security Council cannot even condemn it. I’m sorry, but this is outrageous and is below the dignity of this body.
“The second reason behind this veto is not just cynical, it’s also petty. Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States because they would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Another resolution has been drafted by elected members of the council with a direct demand for a ceasefire, but Thomas-Greenfield warned that the US would veto that text if it was presented for a vote, on the grounds that it did not support negotiations underway in Doha on a deal which would establish a ceasefire in return for Hamas freeing its hostages.
Resolution Lacks Key Points
Guyana, the only member-country that abstained in the UN Security Council vote, said that while the text includes condemnation of Hamas, there was no mention of the Israeli authorities.
Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said that the proposed text “lacked attribution in a number of key areas.”
“To whom is the demand for compliance with obligations under international law [addressed to?] … Who is preventing the use of all available routes to the Gaza Strip? Who does not respect deconfliction and notification mechanisms?
“We know the answers to these questions … Why then were the relevant demands in this resolution not clearly addressed to the occupying power, not even once?”
Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
Also, Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun stated that the Security Council has “dragged its feet” for too long on the issue of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“The US draft evades and dodges the issue of a ceasefire, remains ambiguous and avoids calling for an immediate ceasefire,” he said.
He added, “This [resolution] falls short of the expectations of the international community. The US draft on the contrary sets up conditions for a ceasefire, which is no different from giving a green light to continued killings, which is unacceptable.”
Moreover, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, asserted that the US draft resolution was rejected for “obvious reasons,” calling it “one-sided” and noting that it mentioned Israel only once.
“We reject framing what is happening as a terrorism issue. It is a genocide against the entire population of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.
“The essence of it is calling for an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, which we support because we want to save the lives of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and we want to have massive humanitarian assistance to the level of the needs of our people.”
Riyad Mansour
He added, “We are against the forced transfer inside Gaza and outside Gaza, and we reject totally any attempts to storm and attack the Rafah area, including the city of Rafah.”
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