09.12.2023 10:48

US vetoes UN Security Council resolution calling for immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza

At the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the draft resolution submitted by more than 80 countries demanding an immediate humanitarian peace in Gaza was voted on.

13 of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the draft ceasefire, while only the United States rejected the ceasefire. Britain remained "neutral" in the vote.

However, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the United States voted "no", which led to the rejection of the project.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, made a written statement on his Telegram page about the US vetoing the draft resolution of the UN Security Council, which demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Rishk strongly condemned Washington's veto of a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

"We consider this to be immoral and inhumane. For the US to block a ceasefire is to be directly complicit in the killing of our occupying Israeli people and to call for more massacres and genocide," he wrote.

It should be noted that the draft resolution quoted from the letter sent by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the Council based on Article 99 of the UN Charter points to the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian people, and emphasizes the need to protect all civil societies.

The draft resolution calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire called on all parties to fulfill their obligations under international law, especially to protect civilians.

The draft resolution demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners and the creation of access to humanitarian assistance.

US Permanent Representative to the UN, Robert Wood, said that the draft resolution did not condemn Hamas and that the silence of some Council members on this issue was unacceptable.

Secretary-General Guterres, using his authority for the first time during his tenure, sent a letter to the UN Security Council on December 6, based on Article 99 of the UN Charter, to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Guterres said, "I call on the members of the Security Council to exert pressure to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and I repeat my demand for the declaration of a humanitarian ceasefire. This is very urgent."

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