The leader of the Palestinian Authority challenges the US veto of a UN ceasefire resolution.
Criticism of a US veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza grew on Saturday, with rights groups and aid agencies warning the move would prolong suffering in the enclave and the Palestinian leader Authority issued an order strong condemnation.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority – which Washington and others have presented as a potential governing body for post-war Gaza – called the United States “aggressive and unethical” and said the veto was “a sign of shame that will follow the United States for many years.”
While Biden officials have said Israel must do more to limit civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid to Gaza, frustration has grown among some US allies as Washington continues to stand by Israel despite rising civilian casualties and growing despair as aid remains insufficient.
Officials across the Middle East have urged an immediate halt to Israel’s offensive, with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi calling it a “massacre” at a news conference in Washington on Friday.
Hours after the United States blocked the resolution for an immediate ceasefire, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and an Arab delegation said early Saturday that they had discussed efforts to stem the humanitarian crisis at a meeting in Washington to relieve Gaza.
Mr. Blinken said he had discussed “our shared goal of establishing a future Palestinian state alongside Israel” during a meeting with ministers of Arab countries and representatives of the Palestinian Authority on Friday. He made no mention of a ceasefire.
In a statement, Qatar, which was part of the Arab delegation’s meeting with Mr Blinken, reiterated the group’s calls for an immediate ceasefire and renewed their “rejection” of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan thanked the United States for its veto. Before the vote, he had argued that a ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup and plan more attacks. Israel began its airstrikes and ground invasion of Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, which Israel says killed 1,200 people.
Rights groups and aid organizations immediately criticized the US veto. The United Nations has warned that Gaza is on the brink of a total collapse of social order as its 2.2 million citizens are pushed to the limits of their survival.
“By vetoing this resolution, the US stands alone in casting its vote against humanity,” said Avril Benoit, executive director of Doctors Without Borders in the United States. said in a statement on Friday. “The US veto makes the country complicit in the massacre in Gaza,” she added.
Louis Charbonneau, director of United Nations Human Rights Watch, said in a message on the social media site
John F. Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, on Friday defended U.S. efforts to pressure Israel to be more precise in its attacks, which he said have killed more than 15,000 in two months of war. killed people in Gaza. the Gaza Ministry of Health.
While saying the administration would continue to work with Israeli counterparts to limit harm to civilians in Gaza, Mr. Blinken said a day earlier that “a gap” remained between Israel’s stated intention to protect civilians and events that take place in Gaza.
The United States argued that a ceasefire would leave Hamas in place and that Israel had the right to defend itself. The thirteen other member states of the UN Security Council voted in favor, with the exception of Great Britain, which abstained.
Hamas condemned the US veto, saying the vote made the Biden administration “complicit in the murder of our people through the political and military support of the occupation.”