KUALA LUMPUR – More death and destruction awaits Gaza as the US once again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged enclave.
It was a 13-1 decision in the 15-member council with the UK abstaining, despite growing calls for the bombardment by Israel to stop, reported the Associated Press.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood reportedly criticised the council after the vote for not condemning the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, or acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself.
He added that a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to “plant the seeds for the next war”.
“Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution,” Wood said before the vote.
“For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire.”
In lockstep was Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said that a ceasefire would be a prize for Hamas and “signalling terror groups everywhere”.
In a statement, he said: “Stand with Israel in our mission. We are fighting for our future, and we are fighting for the free world.”
The onslaught by Israel has cost more than 17,400 lives in Gaza, 70% of them women and children, as well as injuring over 46,000 people. Scores remain missing as authorities believe they are trapped under mountains of rubble.
In vain, diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey only managed to meet US State Secretary Antony Blinken after the vote.
“What is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza? Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?” United Arab Emirates deputy ambassador Mohamed Abushaha asked after the vote.
He also slammed the Security Council, saying it appears “untethered” from its mandate to ensure international peace and security.
Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour reminded the council that Israel’s aim is “the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip” and “the dispossession and forcible displacement of the Palestinian people”.
“When you refuse to call for a ceasefire, you are refusing to call for the only thing that can put an end to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
“We reject this result, and we’ll continue resorting to every legitimate avenue to stop these abhorrent atrocities.”
Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the siege of Gaza is a war crime and threatened to destabilise the Middle East, the US and the world for years to come.
The two veto powers – France and Russia – also condemned the results of the vote, with Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky accusing the US of issuing “a death sentence to thousands, if not tens of thousands more civilians in Palestine and Israel, including women and children”.
The council had convened for an emergency meeting as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who for the first time invoked Article 99, which enables him to raise threats he sees to international peace and security.
In his speech, he warned of “a complete breakdown of public order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt”.
“Gaza is at a breaking point… and Hamas’ brutality on October 7 can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
“While indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas into Israel, and the use of civilians as human shields, are in contravention of the laws of war, such conduct does not absolve Israel of its own violations.”
The bombardment has cost Gaza 339 education facilities, 26 hospitals, 56 health care facilities, 88 mosques and three churches.
More than 60% of Gaza’s housing has been destroyed and 85% of the population has been displaced.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe,” added Guterres. – December 9, 2023