Vote in the UN Security Council
US blocks call for ceasefire in Gaza
December 9, 2023, 6:22 a.m
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The situation of civilians in the Gaza Strip is desperate. The United Arab Emirates want to enforce an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza war with a draft resolution before the UN Security Council. This failed because of the US veto. It has “nothing to do with reality.”
The USA used its veto in the UN Security Council to prevent an agreement on the demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Thirteen other members voted in New York for the draft resolution introduced by the United Arab Emirates. Great Britain abstained from voting. In a rare step, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres formally warned the 15-member council of a global threat from the war that has been going on for two months.
The USA protects its ally Israel with its veto. Both say they reject a ceasefire because it would only benefit the radical Islamic Hamas. The US instead supported pauses in fighting. U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood said the draft resolution was a rushed, unbalanced text “that has nothing to do with reality and that fails to deliver concrete progress on the ground.” A ceasefire would “just sow the seeds for the next war,” Wood said.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates’ deputy UN ambassador, Mohammed Abushahab, questioned what kind of message would be sent to the Palestinians if the council did not unite behind the call to end the bombing of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour called the result of the vote a “disaster.” Millions of Palestinian lives are at stake and each of them must be saved.
UN Secretary-General Guterres said there was no effective protection for the civilian population. People are asked to move back and forth in ever smaller parts of the Gaza Strip. “But nowhere in Gaza is it safe.”
Hamas in resolution not condemned
The US had called for significant changes to the draft, including a condemnation of the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which, according to Israel, around 1,200 people were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country abstained because there had been no condemnation of Hamas. Israel must be able to combat the threat posed by Hamas.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 people were killed. The subsequent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have now killed more than 17,400 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.