UNITED NATIONS: The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution Wednesday that would have condemned violence against all civilians in the Israel-Hamas war and would have urged humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council on the resolution sponsored by Brazil was 12 votes in favor, the United States against, and Russia and the United Kingdom abstaining.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that President Joe Biden is in the region engaging in diplomacy to secure the release of hostages, prevent the conflict from spreading and stress the need to protect civilians. “We need to let that diplomacy play out,” she said.
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Before the vote on the resolution, council members voted on two proposed Russian amendments. Both were rejected because they failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes. One called for a “humanitarian cease-fire” and the other would condemn indiscriminate attacks on civilians and “civilian objects” in Gaza, which include hospitals and schools. On Monday, the Security Council rejected a Russian-drafted resolution that included those amendments but made no mention of Hamas.
The voting and debate followed Tuesday’s huge explosion and fire at a Gaza City hospital packed with patients, relatives and Palestinians seeking shelter. The Palestinian health ministry said at least 500 died. Israel and the Palestinians accused each other of being responsible for the hospital carnage. Hamas said it was from an Israeli airstrike. Israel blamed a misfired rocket by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad denied any involvement.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the Brazil resolution, which called for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid, wouldn’t have helped to avoid Tuesday’s explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds. “It is only a cease-fire that will help to do this,” he said.
