The US has again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on the war in Gaza.
They were the only country to vote yesterday against a draft Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and demands that Israel lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave, Reuters and DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The proposal was supported by the other 14 countries in the council - Russia, China, Britain, France and the 10 non-permanent members.
The text demanded the immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by "Hamas" and other groups.
The draft resolution also rejects "any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip".
"The famine in Gaza is confirmed - not predicted, not announced, but confirmed", Denmark's UN ambassador Christina Marcus Lassen told the council before the vote. "Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its military operation in Gaza City, which has further deepened the suffering of civilians. It is precisely this catastrophic situation, this humanitarian and human failure, that forces us to act today," she added.
The agencies note that this is Washington's sixth veto of a Security Council resolution since the beginning of the nearly two-year-long war between Israel and the Palestinian group "Hamas".
"The US opposition to this resolution will not be a surprise. "It does not condemn "Hamas" and it does not recognize Israel's right to defend itself, but it wrongly legitimizes the false narratives in favor of "Hamas" that have unfortunately found a foothold in this council," said Morgan Ortagus, who is the senior adviser for political affairs and deputy special envoy to the US president for the Middle East, before the vote.
"I can understand the anger, the disappointment and the dissatisfaction of the Palestinian people who are probably watching this Security Council session hoping that help is on the way and this nightmare will end," said Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour. "I can imagine the anger and disappointment that it didn't happen," he added, quoted by the Associated Press.
Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon sharply criticized the new initiative, saying that "it will not lead to the release of the hostages and it will not bring security to the region." "Israel will continue to fight Hamas" and to protect its citizens, even if the Security Council prefers to turn a blind eye to terrorism," he stressed in his statement.
Without a change in the way the United States perceives the crisis in the Gaza Strip, there will be no breakthrough in the Middle East, said Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia after the vote on the draft resolution and another American veto.
"Until Washington's perception of the crisis in Gaza changes, until multilateral diplomacy in the UN is perceived there as an obstacle, rather than a critically important tool, there will be no breakthrough in the Middle East," the diplomat stressed, quoted by TASS.
Washington is Israel's closest ally, and the Trump administration stands steadfastly by the Jewish state despite growing criticism of the war in Gaza, DPA recalls.
According to the UN, this is 10 The 000th meeting of the Security Council in its 80-year history.
Pressure on Israel has recently increased and is likely to increase further ahead of next week's UN General Assembly. Next Monday, a number of countries, including France, are expected to recognize a Palestinian state at a conference on the two-state solution.