“The leverage has failed,” says a Saudi official as Arab countries condemn the US veto.

The United States’ decision to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war has caused frustration among Arab governments pushing for on ending the conflict, with a group of regional officials expressing “deep dissatisfaction” with the move.

Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority – which Washington and others have proposed as a potential governing body for post-war Gaza – called the veto “a mark of shame that will haunt the United States for years to come” and said US officials’ policies toward Israel had made their country “a partner in genocide.”

Israel says it is trying to eradicate Hamas, which controls Gaza and launched the Oct. 7 attacks that Israeli authorities say killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel.

The Israeli government denies that it is deliberately targeting civilians. However, Palestinians, Arab governments and international organizations have expressed major concerns about the proportionality of their military response, which health authorities in Gaza say has killed more than 15,000 people – a bombing campaign so intense that there are few precedents in this situation. century.

A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority countries who met with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Friday expressed “deep dissatisfaction with the Security Council’s inability to carry out its responsibilities,” it said Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. said in a statement. These ministers also called on the United States to “play a broader role in putting pressure on the Israeli occupation,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said.

The United States vetoed the resolution, tabled by the United Arab Emirates, on Friday as senior United Nations leaders warned that without a halt to fighting it would be virtually impossible to get enough aid for the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab governments have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, arguing that a continued Israeli military campaign would not only kill thousands of Palestinians but also damage Israeli security and the Middle East, sparking anger and would fuel extremism.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Friday in Washington it was said that “leverage has failed because it has not been applied.” He again called for a ceasefire and said: “There is sufficient influence in the international community – there is sufficient influence in the established institutions of international peace and stability – including the United Nations Security Council, to achieve this goal reaches.”

“We are seeing a position where ceasefire is somehow considered a dirty word, and I honestly cannot understand that,” Prince Faisal added in an interview with “PBS NewsHour” on Friday.

Biden officials say Israel must do more to limit civilian casualties and enable humanitarian aid to Gaza. Mr. Blinken said last week that “a gap” remained between Israel’s stated “intent to protect civilians and the actual results we see on the ground.”

But that still leaves America’s position far removed from that of most Arab countries, which blame Israel for what they call a deeply disproportionate response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

While officials in Bahrain and the Emirates have publicly condemned Hamas, other Arab governments have stopped short, condemning civilian victims on both sides without naming Hamas as the perpetrator. That position is partly motivated by enormous pressure from their own public, as the war widens the rift between many Arab leaders and their people.

During Friday’s visit to Washington, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of committing a “massacre.” Israeli officials say they are in an impossible position, fighting an enemy that is entrenched among civilians.

With its veto, the United States sided with Israel’s claim that ending the war before Hamas is dismantled and removed from power would cause the conflict to erupt again. Thirteen of the fifteen Council members voted in favor of the ceasefire, and Britain abstained.

International bodies have failed, and “we are living in an international law jungle,” Hassan Ezz El-Din, a member of the Lebanese parliament linked to the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, said at a memorial ceremony for one of the fighters from the group. Hezbollah is among regional militias that have entered the fighting directly and skirmished with Israel along its northern border.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut.