Netanyahu Says He Appreciates US Veto of UN Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
The US is facing global backlash for being the only member of the UN Security Council to vote against the resolution
by Dave DeCamp
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said he appreciated the US vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and vowed to continue his war in the besieged enclave, which has killed at least 17,000 Palestinians.
“Other countries must also understand that it’s impossible to support the elimination of Hamas on one side and on the other to call for the end of the war, which will prevent the elimination of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“Therefore, Israel will continue our just war to eliminate Hamas and achieve the war’s other objectives that we set,” he added.
The US is facing global backlash and criticism from fellow UN Security Council members for being the only one to vote against the ceasefire resolution as Israel is killing civilians at a historic pace.
The Security Council held the vote on Friday after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN charter, which allows him to force a discussion if he believes “international peace and security” is at risk.
Thirteen members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, while the UK abstained from voting, and the US used its veto power that’s granted to permanent members. Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, criticized the resolution because it didn’t condemn Hamas and reiterated US opposition to a ceasefire.
“Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution,” Wood said. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sharply criticized the US after the vote, saying the US was complicit in “war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.”
Besides giving Israel cover at the UN Security Council, it is also providing Israel with a huge amount of military equipment, including massive bombs, to fuel the onslaught.