UNITED NATIONS - The United States on Friday vetoed a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution that would have called for an immediate ceasefire of Israel’s bombardment on the Gaza Strip.
Washington dashed a growing demand for truce that had been led by UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, who formally Warned the 15-member council of the global threat from the two-month long attacks.
American envoy to the UN Robert Wood said the resolution was "divorced from reality" and "would only plant the seeds for the next war because Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution”.
He went on to attack the resolution's sponsors, criticising them for rushing it through and leaving the call for an unconditional ceasefire unchanged.
"This resolution still contains a call for an unconditional ceasefire... it would leave Hamas in place able to repeat what it did on Oct 7," Wood said.
Guterres had convened an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after weeks of fighting left more than 17,487 people dead in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
"The United Arab Emirates is deeply disappointed. Regrettably... this council is unable to demand a humanitarian ceasefire,” said Lana Nusseibeh, the representative of the UAE, which had sponsored the resolution.
As a permanent Security Council member, the US can veto any resolution, while Britain, also a member, abstained on the vote, and the 13 other members voted in favour.
Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour said this was a terrible day for the Security Council.
"If you support it (this war) you are supporting crimes against humanity. This is a terrible day for the Security Council,” she said.
Israel praised Washington's veto, with the country's UN envoy Gilad Erdan thanking "the United States and President Biden for standing firmly by our side."
Ahead of the vote, Guterres had said what Hamas has done could never justify "the collective punishment of the Palestinian people."
Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in tanks and ground troops since the attacks began on Oct 7.
Guterres deployed rarely-used Article 99 of the UN Charter to bring to the council's attention "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security." Something no one in his job had done this in decades.
Guterres had sought a "humanitarian ceasefire" to prevent "a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians" and the entire Middle East.
Russia's deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said "our colleagues from the USA have literally before our eyes issued a death sentence to thousands, if not tens of thousands, more civilians in Palestine."
Medecins Sans Frontiers said Security Council inaction made the body "complicit in the ongoing slaughter" while Human Rights Watch said "by continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover... the US risks complicity in war crimes."
Several previous attempts to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire were vetoed.
Vast areas of Gaza have been reduced to a wasteland. The United Nations says about 80 percent of the population has been displaced, facing shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine, along with the threat of disease.
"International humanitarian law includes the duty to protect civilians," Guterres said.
His spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres "remains determined to push for a humanitarian ceasefire."
Four draft resolutions had already been rejected in the weeks following Oct 7, for lack of sufficient backing, or because of Russian, Chinese or US vetoes. - WIRES