US uses veto right to block new UN Security Council draft resolution on ceasefire in Gaza
The resolution was drafted by ten non-permanent members of the Security Council and consists of nine paragraphs, the first of which calls for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire respected by all parties
UNITED NATIONS, November 20. /TASS/. The United States has used its veto right and blocked a UN Security Council draft resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a demand for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip prepared by the organization's ten non-permanent members, a TASS correspondent reported.
Fourteen of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the document. This is the fifth time that the United States has blocked resolutions providing for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip since tensions escalated in the Middle East last October.
The resolution was drafted by ten non-permanent members of the Security Council and consists of nine paragraphs, the first of which calls for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire respected by all parties. The document also calls for the release of all hostages held in the enclave, respect for international law by all parties, and humanitarian access to the civilian population of Gaza. The draft resolution also includes a clause stating that if the document is adopted, the UN Secretary General should submit a written report on the implementation of the resolution to the Security Council within three weeks.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by 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 million Palestinians before the crisis, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, a total of 44,000 Palestinians have been killed and 104,000 injured in the enclave since tensions escalated last October.