The UN Security Council has voted against a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
This after the US vetoed the proposal.
– This resolution only sows the seeds for a continuation of the war, says Ambassador Robert Wood.
The US representative in the UN Security Council says that the country cannot stand behind the draft resolution on a ceasefire.
– We are for an unsustainable peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But this resolution only sows the seeds for a continuation of the war, says Robert Wood.
Thus, the draft resolution, which was presented by, among others, the United Arab Emirates and which was supported by 97 countries, was voted down, as the United States has veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council.
The debate at the UN headquarters had then been intense, and at times angry.
13 of the Security Council members voted in favor of the proposal and Great Britain chose to abstain.
UN chief: “Demands their immediate release”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres initially said that terrorist-labeled Hamas must release all those held hostage:
– Around 130 people are being held hostage. I demand their immediate and unconditional release, that they be treated humanely and that they be visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Then Guterres turned to one of the sharpest accusations against Israel’s government and military.
– At the same time, Hamas’s brutality cannot justify the collective punishment of Palestinians.
Israel and the UN Secretary-General have previously been on a direct collision course on several occasions, and Israel’s UN ambassador repeatedly demands that Guterres be removed.