Russia and China on Friday vetoed a U.S.-sponsored UN resolution calling for "an immediate and sustained ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, calling the measure ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks.
The vote in the Security Council became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, whose ongoing military offensive has created a dire humanitarian crisis for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
A key issue was the unusual language that said the Security Council 鈥渄etermines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire.鈥 The phrasing was not a straightforward 鈥渄emand鈥 or 鈥渃all鈥 to halt hostilities.
The resolution reflected a shift by the United States, which has found itself at odds with much of the world as even allies of Israel push for an unconditional end to fighting.
In previous resolutions, the U.S. has closely intertwined calls for a ceasefire with demands for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. This resolution, using wording that鈥檚 open to interpretation, continued to link the two issues, but not as firmly.
Before the vote, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supports an immediate ceasefire, but he criticized diluted language that referred to moral imperatives, which he called philosophical wording that does not belong in a UN resolution.
He accused U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of 鈥渄eliberately misleading the international community.鈥
鈥淭his was some kind of an empty rhetorical exercise,鈥 Nebenzia said. 鈥淭he American product is exceedingly politicized, the sole purpose of which is to help to play to the voters, to throw them a bone in the form of some kind of a mention of a ceasefire in Gaza and to ensure the impunity of Israel, whose crimes in the draft are not even assessed.鈥
China's UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said the U.S. proposal did not promote an immediate and sustained ceasefire, set preconditions and fell far short of expectations of council members and the broader international community.
"If the U.S. was serious about a ceasefire, it wouldn't have vetoed time and again multiple council resolutions," he said. "It wouldn't have taken such a detour and played a game of words while being ambiguous and evasive on critical issues."
The U.S. has vetoed three resolutions demanding a ceasefire, the most recent an Arab-backed measure supported by 13 council members with one abstention on Feb. 20.
Thomas-Greenfield urged the council to adopt the resolution to press for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the hostages, as well as to address Gaza's humanitarian crisis and support ongoing diplomacy by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
After the vote, Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China of voting for 鈥渄eeply cynical reasons,鈥 saying they could not bring themselves to condemn Hamas' terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which the resolution would have done for the first time.
A key issue in the vote was the unusual language related to a ceasefire. It said the Security Council 鈥渄etermines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire,鈥 - not a straight-forward 鈥渄emand鈥 or 鈥渃all.鈥
She accused Russia of again putting 鈥減olitics over progress鈥 and having 鈥渢he audacity and hypocrisy to throw stones鈥 after launching its unwarranted invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
While the resolution would have been officially binding under international law, it would not have ended the fighting or led to the release of hostages. But it would have added to the pressure on Israel as its closest ally falls more in line with global demands for a ceasefire at a time of rising tensions between the U.S. and Israeli governments.
Meanwhile, the 10 elected members of the Security Council have put their own resolution in a final form to be voted on. It demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that began March 10 to be 鈥渞espected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire.鈥 Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, told reporters the vote would take place either late Friday or Saturday morning.
The resolution also demands 鈥渢he immediate and unconditional release of all hostages鈥 and emphasizes the urgent need to protect civilians and deliver humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip.
Nebenzia urged council members to support it, but Thomas-Greenfield said the text's current form 鈥渇ails to support sensitive diplomacy in the region. Worse, it could actually give Hamas an excuse to walk away from the deal on the table.鈥
The Security Council had already adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a ceasefire.
Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in late October calling for pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a ceasefire.
The U.S. has vetoed three resolutions demanding a ceasefire, the most recent an Arab-backed measure supported by 13 council members with one abstention on Feb. 20.
A day earlier, the U.S. circulated a rival resolution, which went through major changes during negotiations before Friday's vote. It initially would have supported a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of all hostages, and the previous draft would have supported international efforts for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal.
The vote took place as Blinken, America's top diplomat, was on his sixth mission to the Middle East since the war began, discussing a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release, as well as post-war scenarios.
Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel that triggered the war, and they abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 people hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.
In Gaza, the Health Ministry raised the death toll in the territory Thursday to nearly 32,000 Palestinians. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
A report from an international authority on hunger warned this week that "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territory's population to the brink of starvation.
Israel faces mounting pressure to streamline the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, to open more land crossings and to come to a ceasefire agreement. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to move the military offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where some 1.3 million displaced Palestinians have sought safety. Netanyahu says it's a Hamas stronghold.
The final U.S. resolution eliminated language in the initial draft that said Israel's offensive in Rafah "should not proceed under current circumstances." Instead, in an introductory paragraph, the council emphasized its concern that a ground offensive into Rafah "would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement, potentially into neighboring countries, and would have serious implications for regional peace and security."
China's Zhang criticized the backtracking on unequivocal U.S. opposition, saying it "would send an utterly wrong signal and lead to severe consequences."
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