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14 against 1 at the UNSC yet again, as US vetoes resolution on Gaza
The US veto certainly does not serve the people of Gaza. This is the sixth time the US have used their veto now in nearly two years at the Security Council, blocking what is vital for the people of Gaza – most notably a ceasefire, which was one of the very first things listed in this draft resolution.
It was a resolution drawn up by 10 out of 15 Security Council members; the 10 who are the non-permanent members but also supported by all of the permanent members – apart from one, the US.
So 14 against one, yet again, is the way it has has stacked up at the Security Council.
Morgan Ortagus, the deputy US envoy for the Middle East, was saying the US does not believe the international community on famine in Gaza. She says the IPC – the international body that is so cautious about its decisions and recommendations, but said that famine was occurring in Gaza – was “biased” and used faulty methodology.
And she says that a ceasefire and this resolution would actually help Hamas and lead to another October 7.
That’s her view and the view of the US administration, not the view that is shared by any of the rest of these ambassadors. But the way the system works and the UNSC was set up … was with the [five] powerful victors of World War II all given a veto.
That is what is stopping action on Palestine, that is what is stopping action on Gaza, and that is what is stopping any ceasefire for what the Danish representative described as this “abhorrent” war.
UN is useless, just a way to exert control on the world by the five veto members. WW3 is getting closer.
Members of UNSC condemn US veto of ceasefire resolution
Members of the UNSC have been condemning the US’s veto of today’s ceasefire resolution, which all 14 other members voted in favour of. Here are some more reactions:
Somalia’s Abukar Osman: “Time and again, this council has been blocked from action, invoking, sometimes explicit, more often unspoken, dangerous language and dangerous logic that the suffering of some is more tolerable than the suffering of others and that the lives of certain people matter less. It’s a notion that has stained our history before and is one we must reject.”
Pakistan’s Asim Iftikhar Ahmad: “Today’s failure sends a dangerous message that the lives of 2 million besieged Palestinians are deemed expendable and can be subordinated to political considerations. Every hour of obstruction deepens the wound and aggravates the suffering of the people of Gaza.”
UK’s Barbara Woodward: “We need a ceasefire more than ever, and yet Israel’s reckless expansion of its military operation takes us further away from a deal which could bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza.”
Palestinian Envoy UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour: "Images coming out of Gaza are filled with “pain and anguish” and should have moved anyone watching. “Babies dying of starvation, snipers shooting people in the head, civilians killed en masse, families displaced again and again … humanitarians and journalists targeted … while Israeli officials openly mocking all of this, the draft resolution represents the “bare minimum” that must be done. It is deeply regrettable and painful that it has been blocked.”
