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UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United States rejected a United Nations resolution on Friday that was supported by almost all other members of the Security Council and many other nations that called for an immediate freeze on aid. love in Gaza. Supporters called it a terrible day and warned of more deaths and destruction of the war in its third month.
The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1, with the British government absent. The isolation of the United States reflected the growing rift between Washington and some of its closest allies due to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. France and Japan were among those who supported the call for a ceasefire.
In a futile attempt to force the Biden administration to end its opposition to the call to stop the war, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were in Washington on Friday. But their meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken took place after the UN election.
Along with the election, the mission of the Arab diplomats served to shift the responsibility on the United States for protecting Israel from the growing demand to stop the airstrikes that are killing thousands the Palestinian people.
“What message are we sending to the Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to stop the constant attacks on Gaza?” United Arab Emirates ambassador Mohamed Abushaha asked after the vote. “Yes, what message are we sending to the public around the world that they may be going through similar situations?”
US ambassador Robert Wood called the resolution “unbalanced” and criticized the council after the vote for failing to condemn the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel in which militants killed the about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or demonstrate Israel’s right to protection. himself. He declared that the military suspension would allow Hamas to continue to control Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.”
“Hamas has no desire to see a lasting peace, to see a two-state solution,” Wood said before the vote. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a lasting peace, in which Israel and Palestine can live in peace and security, we do not support the call for an immediate end.”
of Israel military system has killed more than 17,400 people in Gaza – 70% of them women and children – and injured more than 46,000, according to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian territory, which says that the many others are trapped under the debris. The ministry does not separate civilians from war.
Abushahab, the UAE diplomat, said before the vote, the resolution, which was supported by his country, received nearly 100 supporters in less than 24 hours, a picture of support of the world for efforts to end the war and save Palestinian lives.
After the election, he expressed great displeasure with the US veto and warned that the Security Council is growing and “appears to be ineffective” from its mandate to ensure international peace and security.
The Ambassador Nicolas De Rivière of France, a member of the permanent council of the veto that supported the resolution, regretted the lack of unity and pleaded “for a new humanitarian aid, fast and permanent that should lead with a permanent suspension.”
Russia’s UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky called the election “one of the darkest days in the history of the Middle East” and accused the United States of giving “a death sentence to thousands, or or tens of thousands of other civilians in Palestine and Israel, including women and children.”
He said, “history will judge Washington’s actions” in the face of what he called “Israel’s ruthless bloodshed.”
The council convened an emergency meeting to hear from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who for the first time Article 99 was invoked the UN Charter, which allows a UN leader to deal with threats he sees to international peace and security. He warned a “love journey” in Gaza and urged the council to order a humanitarian relief.
Guterres said he moved Article 99 – which has not been used in the UN since 1971 – because “there is a high level of total decline in aid to Gaza.” The UN hopes that this will result in “a complete breakdown of public peace and increased pressure for many people in Egypt,” he warned.
Gaza is in a “crippling state,” he said, and desperate people are at grave risk of starvation.
Guterres said that Hamas’ violence against Israelis on October 7 “can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
“While Hamas’ indiscriminate fire inside Israel, and the use of civilians as human shields, violates the laws of war, such actions do not absolve Israel of its own violations,” he stressed. this.
The UN chief detailed the “charity” facing Gaza, citing Israel’s fierce, widespread and sustained air, ground and sea attacks that reportedly damaged 339 schools. , 26 hospitals, 56 health clinics, 88 mosques and three churches.
More than 60% of Gaza’s homes are reported to have been damaged or destroyed, about 85% of the population has been driven from their homes, health is declining, and “there is nothing in Gaza that security,” Guterres said.
Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s UN ambassador, told the conference that Israel’s goal is “the ethnic cleansing of Gaza” and “the displacement and forced displacement of the Palestinian people.”
“If you are against the extermination and displacement of the Palestinian people, you should be in favor of an immediate end,” Mansour said. “When you refuse to call for a ceasefire, you are refusing to call for the one thing that can end war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”
After the vote, he called the US veto “disastrous” and said it was a “bad day for the Security Council.”
“We reject this decision, and we will continue to use all necessary means to stop these evil incidents,” said Mansour.
But Israeli Defense Minister Yoava Gallant thanked the United States for its “brave leadership”.
“The cease-fire is giving a signal to Hamas, disarming the hostages in Gaza, and marking terrorist groups everywhere,” he said in a statement. “Stand with Israel in our mission. We are fighting for our future, and we are fighting for the free world.”
In Washington, Jordan’s high minister told reporters that the killing of Palestinians in the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip is a war crime and threatens to destabilize the region. America and the world for years to come.
“If people don’t see it here, we are seeing it,” said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, adding: “We are seeing the challenges we are facing and talk with our people. They are all saying that we will not do anything. Because despite all our efforts, Israel continues these killings.”
The Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnès Callamard criticized the US for continuing the transfer of weapons to the government of Israel “to help destroy entire families.”
And Louis Charbonneau, director of the UN at Human Rights Watch, said that by providing weapons and civilian protection to Israel “while it carries out atrocities, including the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza , the US may be involved in war crimes.”
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Associated Press reporters Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.