US vetoes UN resolution on Israel-Hamas conflict
(Baonghean.vn) - The United States on February 20 vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, even as President Joe Biden faces increasing pressure to cut support for Israel.
The resolution proposed by Algeria demands “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties.” Washington’s UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “To hold a vote today is wishful thinking and irresponsible… we cannot support a resolution that would jeopardize sensitive negotiations,” and backed an alternative resolution drafted by the US.
The vote comes as Israel prepares to enter the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people have fled, as part of a mission to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas. However, Israel is facing increasing pressure, including from its closest ally, the United States.
“This is not, as some members have claimed, a US attempt to cover up an imminent ground offensive – it is a sincere statement of our concern for the 1.5 million civilians seeking refuge in Rafah,” Thomas-Greenfield stressed before the vote.
The draft resolution denounced the "forced displacement of Palestinian civilians." It also demanded the "unconditional release" of all hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack. However, like previous drafts rejected by the US and Israel, it did not condemn the Hamas attack, which killed about 1,160 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians.
As President Biden faces growing pressure to cut support for Israel, Washington has put forward an alternative draft resolution on Gaza that emphasizes “support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible” and expresses concern about the Rafah situation. According to a diplomatic source, the draft has little chance of passing in its current form and risks being vetoed by Russia.
Gaza's Health Ministry confirmed that, as diplomatic powers argued, Israel continued to attack Gaza with airstrikes and ground fighting, killing a total of 103 Palestinians in the past 24 hours. The United Nations has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and warned that food shortages could lead to an "explosion" of preventable child deaths./.
