By EDITH M. LEDERER, Related Press
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The US on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Safety Council decision demanding a right away cease-fire within the struggle in Gaza as a result of it was not linked to a right away launch of hostages taken captive by Hamas in Israel in October 2023.
The council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the decision — 14 of its 15 members voted “yes” together with U.S. allies Britain and France — nevertheless it was doomed by the veto.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wooden stated america labored for weeks to keep away from a veto of the decision sponsored by the council’s 10 elected members, and expressed remorse that compromise language was not accepted.
“We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional cease-fire that failed to release the hostages,” he stated. “Hamas would have seen it as a vindication of its cynical strategy to hope and pray the international community forgets about the fate of more than 100 hostages from more than 20 member states who have been held for 410 days.”
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by america, Canada and the European Union.
The decision that was put to a vote “demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
The emotional response to the veto by the Palestinian deputy U.N. ambassador, Majed Bamya, mirrored the widespread anger and disappointment on the failure of the U.N.’s strongest physique to demand an finish to the greater than 13-month struggle, which has killed greater than 43,000 Palestinians, in accordance with the Gaza well being ministry, and left a lot of the territory in ruins.
The absence of a cease-fire is permitting a “full-fledged Israeli assault against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian land” to proceed, Bamya instructed the council. “A cease-fire will allow to save lives — all lives. This was true a year ago. This is even more true today.”
Stressing the tens of 1000’s of Palestinian deaths, Bamya requested, “Do they have the right to kill, and the only right we have is to die?”
He instructed council members: “You are witnessing the attempt to annihilate a nation, destroy a nation.”
Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, countered that the decision “was not a path to peace, it was a road map to more terror, more suffering and more bloodshed.”
He thanked america, Israel’s closest ally, “for exercising its veto, for standing on the side of morality and justice, for refusing to abandon the hostages and their families.”
The explanation the council was assembly and “the pain that the people are suffering (is) because of Hamas,” Danon stated, stressing that the one future for Gaza is with out the Palestinian group.
In a press release, Hamas strongly condemned the veto, claiming america once more demonstrated “its direct involvement in the aggression against our people, acting as an accomplice in the killing of children and women and the complete destruction of civilian life in Gaza.”
“We demand the U.S. to stop this clumsy hostile policy if it truly seeks to end wars and achieve security and stability in the region, as we heard from the upcoming administration,” Hamas added, a reference to President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to finish the struggle in Gaza.
The Safety Council has adopted a number of resolutions on Gaza, together with for a cease-fire through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and demanding humanitarian entry. The US in addition to Russia and China have vetoed a number of earlier resolutions on the struggle.
The council in June adopted its first decision on a cease-fire plan aimed toward ending the struggle between Israel and Hamas. That U.S.-sponsored decision welcomed a cease-fire proposal introduced by President Joe Biden that america stated Israel had accepted. It known as on Hamas to simply accept the three-phase plan, however the struggle goes on.
The Palestinian deputy ambassador put the blame on Israel, saying, “It is pretty clear that Israel had never an intention to accept a cease-fire, and has found every reason not to have a cease-fire.”
The ten elected council members stated in a press release learn by Guyana’s U.N. ambassador, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, after the vote that all of them supported the June decision “with the expectation that a cease-fire deal would have been agreed and implemented swiftly.”
However months later, the ten elected members determined a brand new decision ought to go additional and make an unequivocal demand for an unconditional cease-fire not restricted to any time interval.
However the U.S. veto, the elected members underscored that the struggle in Gaza should finish instantly, hostages have to be launched instantly, humanitarian help have to be delivered all over the place in Gaza and civilians and civilian infrastructure have to be protected.
“Our collective efforts to end the hostilities will not stop,” they stated.
Algeria’s U.N. ambassador, Amar Bendjama, the Arab consultant on the council, stated the message to Israel after the veto is: “You may continue your genocide. You may continue your collective punishment of the Palestinian people with complete impunity. In this chamber, you enjoy immunity.”
However he vowed that the elected members will return quickly with an excellent stronger decision below Chapter 7 of the U.N. Constitution, which is militarily enforceable — and they won’t cease till the council takes motion.
Matthew Lee in Washington and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.
Initially Printed: November 20, 2024 at 11:13 AM EST
