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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. draft resolution on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was rejected by the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Friday due to vetoes by Russia and China.
This project called for an “immediate and lasting ceasefire” lasting around six weeks which would protect civilians and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“The vast majority of Council members voted in favor of this resolution, but unfortunately Russia and China have decided to exercise their veto power,” said the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas -Greenfield, before the Security Council.
The American representative had warned before the vote against a “historic error” if the Council did not adopt the resolution.
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The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vassili Nebenzia, who also spoke before the vote, called on members to reject the resolution, which he accused of being “extremely politicized”.
According to him, it would have given the green light to Israel to organize a military operation in Rafah where more than half of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have taken refuge to escape the Israeli assault further north of the enclave.
He called for support for an alternative resolution drafted by several non-permanent members of the Security Council that he called balanced.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced just after the Russian and Chinese vetoes that France would work on a new resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza.
(Reporting Daphne Psaledakis and David Brunnstrom, French version Kate Entringer)
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