The United States forms a minority of one in blocking a UN Security Council resolution demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and favoring a complete Israeli withdrawal from the coastal sliver that is in tatters from some 20 months of a genocidal Israeli war.
The resolution was put to vote on Wednesday, calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The American veto went up against affirmative votes by all of the Council’s other members, namely 14 countries.
The resolution, co-sponsored by 10 elected members of the Council, had sought to “immediately and permanently” end the warfare that has so far claimed the lives of at least 54,510 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
It had also called for restoration of humanitarian access and essential services across the devastated territory, which has simultaneously been subjected to a near-total Israeli siege.
If adopted, the draft would have also supported ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at enabling a phased ceasefire framework, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the beginning of reconstruction.
Gaza’s Hamas resistance movement would provide due cooperation with a previous framework. The framework, though, collapsed after the Israeli regime resumed the genocide. No new structure was implemented afterwards either on the back of Tel Aviv’s non-compliance with diplomatic efforts.
Speaking before the Wednesday vote, acting US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea tarnished the resolution as “unacceptable,” attacking both its contents and the process through which it had been presented.
“The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” she said.
The diplomat reiterated Washington’s “terrorist” label for the Palestinian resistance movement that has been standing up for decades to interminable deadly aggression by the Israeli regime, which has invariably received unstinting American political and military support.
The diplomat further claimed that Hamas had rejected several recent ceasefire proposals, including one that, she said, would have led to the release of the Israeli captives, who remained in Gaza, as well as an end to the warfare.
The claim, previously verbalized by the US’s regional envoy Steve Witkoff, however, flew directly in the face of the movement’s actual treatment of the proposal.
Shea further reiterated Washington’s insistence on Hamas’ removal from Gaza, quoting Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying, “If an ember survives, it will spark again into a fire.”
The vote came as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continued to deteriorate at an exponential pace.
UN agencies have warned of a looming famine, the near-total collapse of healthcare, and the displacement of the vast majority of the territory’s population.
“The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded, or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat,” said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher.
He was referring to a so-called new “aid distribution system” led by the United States and the Israeli regime, which bypasses established humanitarian agencies.
The mechanism has been criticized for failing to reach many in need, and has seen Israeli forces fatally shooting the Palestinians racing to collect aid packages.
Hamas’ reaction
Following the vote, Hamas issued a strong condemnation of the American decision, calling it an indication of the US’s unquestioningly favoring the regime on all occasions.
The American veto, the movement added, provided a green light for continued Israeli attacks on civilians.
“The US veto embodies the American administration’s blind bias towards the fascist occupation government and its support for its crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip,” the group said in a statement.
It denounced the US for defying the will of the international community, ignoring the international law, and enabling a genocidal war being waged by Israeli forces under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court.
The movement further lambasted the US for spreading misinformation and denying Palestinians their right to self-determination.
In the meantime, Hamas questioned the credibility of international institutions that had failed to stop the war or guarantee access to food and aid after nearly two years of genocide.
“The failure of the UN Security Council to stop the war of genocide that has been ongoing for twenty months… raises fundamental questions about the role of international community institutions and the effectiveness of international laws,” the statement said.
A pattern of vetoes
The Wednesday veto marked the sixth time the United States had blocked a Gaza-related ceasefire resolution since the regime launched the war in October 2023.
The US has been trying to justify its actions concerning such resolutions by claiming that they failed to hold Hamas accountable or adequately protect the Israeli regime’s “security interests.”
In a similar move on November 20, 2024, the US vetoed a resolution that had called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, arguing that the proposal did not ensure the release of Israeli captives.
