CAIRO, February 21. /TASS/. The right of veto that the United States exercised in a UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip speaks volumes about Washington’s political responsibility for the continuation of hostilities in the embattled enclave, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.

"It is the third time since tensions escalated in the Gaza Strip (in October 2023 - TASS) that the US has intervened to prevent the adoption of a resolution aimed at achieving a ceasefire in the enclave," the Al-Youm as-Sabia news outlet quoted the Arab League chief as saying. According to him, this "clearly points to the political and moral responsibility of the American administration for the continued Israeli aggression in Gaza."

The Arab League chief emphasized that, "the US position undermines confidence in the international organization and exacerbates its paralysis." According to Aboul Gheit, such a UN position "provides political cover for Israel to continue its war against the Palestinians and speaks of the international community's inability to stop the daily crimes of the Israeli army in the [Gaza] Strip."

Earlier, the US exercised its right of veto in the UN Security Council to block an Algerian resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. Thirteen of the fifteen members of the UN Security Council voted for the resolution, including Russia and China, with the UK abstaining. Thus, the US was the only country to vote against the resolution.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 mln Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.