The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution, drafted by the 10 elected members of the council, which demands that Israel lift all restrictions on aid entering Gaza. The resolution drew support from 14 of the body’s 15 members.
“For some members of the council, this is a performance. For Israel, this is a daily reality,” Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told the council.
“The proposal was presented without condemnation of Hamas, without condemnation of the Oct. 7 massacre and without a demand for Hamas to disarm,” Danon said. “This is not diplomacy. This is surrender.”
The resolution demands an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and, separately, the “immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.”
“Those who truly care about the future of Gaza should work to remove Hamas from Gaza,” Danon said. “As long as the hostages are held by this brutal terrorist organization, there is and will be no ceasefire. Israel will continue to apply military pressure until all the hostages are returned.”
The resolution also demands “that the government of Israel immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and ensure its safe and unhindered distribution to the population in need of such assistance, in particular by the United Nations and humanitarian partners.”
The resolution cited a disputed U.N.-backed report determining a “famine” is underway in Gaza City and surrounding areas. Backers of the report blame the United States for its humanitarian aid delivery methods. U.N. aid is looted at alarming rates.
Morgan Ortagus, counsellor at the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said that “U.S. opposition to this resolution will come as no surprise.”
“It fails to condemn Hamas or recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimises the false narratives benefiting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council,” Ortagus said.
Thursday’s session marked the sixth time that Washington has vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.
“Council members ignored when the United States made clear that this resolution was unacceptable,” Ortagus said. “The council instead opted for a performative action—designed to draw a veto—that extends Hamas terrorists and those who fund them and support them, and gives them a lifeline.”
Washington again stood alone at the council in Israel’s defense.
“So long as Washington does not change the lens through which it regards the crisis in Gaza, so long as multilateral diplomacy of the United Nations is seen there as an obstacle, not as a critically important instrument, there will be no breakthrough on Middle East settlement achieved,” said Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s U.N. ambassador.
