The United States vetoed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council asking for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict when all other members of the Council were in its favor.
"The United States rejects this unacceptable resolution," Counselor Morgan Ortagus said in the session, held just a week before the UN General Assembly sessions, where the issue of Gaza war would be a central point of discussion. Ortagus attacked the resolution for failing to condemn Hamas adequately, which is branded as a terror group by both the US and the EU.
The other 14 members of the Security Council voted unanimously for the resolution, which termed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as "catastrophic" and called for Israel to lift all the restrictions on relief deliveries. Thursday's veto is the sixth time the US has vetoed a Gaza-related resolution in the Security Council since 2023.
The veto underscores the increasing isolation of the US and Israel regarding the conflict. Next week, a number of US allies are expected to accept an independent Palestinian state. At the same time, a UN agency recently determined Israel is engaging in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, after a previous UN declaration in August that the area is facing famine.
"What is occurring in Gaza today is abhorrent," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said to reporters on Tuesday. "We are seeing massive destruction of neighborhoods, now the systematic destruction of Gaza City, we are seeing massive killing of civilians in a way that I do not remember in any conflict since I am secretary-general."
After almost two years of conflict, much of Gaza has been left in rubble. According to the health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, over 64,000 Palestinians were killed in the war, which started with the attack launched by Hamas in October 2023 against Israel that took the lives of 1,200 Israelis.
Read also| Jefferies projects India to receive $50–70 billion in new inflows within the next year
