UNITED NATIONS, February 20. /TASS/. The United States has used its veto power to block a United Nations Security Council resolution submitted by Algeria, which demands an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, TASS reports from the site.

Thirteen out of 15 members of the Security Council, including Russia and China, voted in favor of the resolution, while the UK abstained. Thus, the United States was the only country voting against.

The Algerian document rejects the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians and emphasizes commitment to the two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating the truce that had been in effect since November 24 and announced that it would resume fighting in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian authorities held the United States responsible for the renewed Israeli aggression.