MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Being "under the umbrella" of the United States, Israel feels impunity at the United Nations Security Council and that is an obstacle to the Gaza ceasefire, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on the Soloviev Live television channel.

"Over the past decades, Israel has been quite comfortable under the umbrella of the United states, even somehow feeling impunity," he said.

According to Polyansky, this became very evident during the current escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, "when the United States was blocking completely the Security Council’s work for quite long, thus preventing any hint about an immediate ceasefire - that is what the international community and the Security Council members were demanding."

On August 1, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani said that the US, UK and France had blocked Russia’s proposed statement condemning the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian movement Hamas’ political bureau.