US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza ceasefire

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, drawing criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel's war on Gaza.

The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the 13-month conflict and separately demanded the release of captives.

Only the US voted against, using its veto as a permanent council member to block the resolution.

Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, said Washington had made clear it would only support a resolution that explicitly calls for the immediate release of hostages as part of a ceasefire.

"A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it," he said.

Wood said the US had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a "dangerous message" to  Hamas that "there's no need to come back to the negotiating table."

Israel's war on Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis. 

US criticised for blocking resolution

Members roundly criticised the US for blocking the resolution put forward by the council's 10 elected members: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.

"It is deeply regretted that due to the use of the veto this council has once again failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain international peace and security," Malta's UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier said after the vote failed, adding that the text of the resolution "was by no means a maximalist one."

"It represented the bare minimum of what is needed to begin to address the desperate situation on the ground," she said.

Food security experts have warned that famine is imminent among Gaza's 2.3 million people. US President Joe Biden, who leaves office on 20 January has offered Israel strong diplomatic backing and continued to provide arms for the war, while trying unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that would see captives released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.

After blocking earlier resolutions on Gaza, Washington in March abstained from a vote that allowed a resolution to pass demanding an immediate ceasefire.

A senior US official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Wednesday's vote, said Britain had put forward new language that the US would have supported as a compromise, but that was rejected by the elected members.

Some members were more interested in bringing about a US veto than compromising on the resolution, the official said, accusing US adversaries Russia and China of encouraging those members.

'Green light to continue war'

France's ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said the resolution rejected by the U.S. "very firmly" required the release of captives.

"France still has two hostages in Gaza, and we deeply regret that the Security Council was not able to formulate this demand," he said.

Meanwhile, China's UN ambassador, Fu Cong, said each time the United States had exercised its veto to protect Israel, the number of people killed in Gaza had steadily risen.

"How many more people have to die before they wake up from their pretend slumber?" he asked.

"Insistence on setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continue the war and condoning the continued killing."

Israel's U.N. ambassador Danny Danon said ahead of the vote the text was not a resolution for peace but was "a resolution for appeasement" of Hamas.

"History will remember who stood with the hostages and who abandoned them," Danon said.