‘Double standards’: World reacts to US veto on Gaza truce resolution at UN | Israel-Palestine conflict News

World leaders, worldwide rights teams and United Nations officers have criticised the US for vetoing a UN decision calling for a right away humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and failing to halt the conflict that has killed greater than 17,400 Palestinians and about 1,100 individuals in Israel since October 7.

A UN decision on the pause in hostilities failed to pass on Friday on the UN Safety Council after the US vetoed the proposal and Britain abstained.

The remaining 13 of the 15 present members of the UNSC voted in favour of the decision put ahead by the United Arab Emirates and co-sponsored by 100 different international locations.

Listed here are a few of the reactions:

Palestine

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh mentioned it was “a shame and one other clean cheque given to the occupying state to bloodbath, destroy and displace”.

Palestine’s UN envoy Riyad Mansour instructed the UNSC that the results of the vote was “disastrous”. “If you’re in opposition to the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian individuals you should stand in opposition to this conflict. And in case you help it then you’re enabling this destruction and displacement no matter your intentions … Tens of millions of Palestinian lives hold within the steadiness. Each single one in all them is sacred, value saving.”

Hamas strongly condemned the US veto, saying it considers Washington’s transfer “unethical and inhumane”. “The US obstruction of the issuance of a ceasefire decision is a direct participation with the occupation in killing our individuals and committing extra massacres and ethnic cleaning,” Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, mentioned in a press release.

Israel

Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan didn’t tackle the UNSC after the vote, however in a press release mentioned: “A ceasefire might be potential solely with the return of all of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.”

United States

Deputy US ambassador to the UN Robert Wooden instructed the council that the draft decision was a rushed, imbalanced textual content “that was divorced from actuality, that may not transfer the needle ahead on the bottom in any concrete manner”.

“We don’t help this decision’s name for an unsustainable ceasefire that may solely plant the seeds for the subsequent conflict,” he mentioned.

Amnesty Worldwide

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary normal: “By vetoing this decision, the US has displayed a callous disregard for civilian struggling within the face of a staggering dying toll, intensive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster taking place within the occupied Gaza Strip.”

We’re devastated by the UN Safety Council’s failure to undertake a decision demanding a ceasefire in Gaza—blocked by a solitary veto from the US.

“By vetoing this decision, the US stands alone in casting its vote in opposition to humanity.”https://t.co/D2oIFaMoje

— Medical doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) December 8, 2023

Medical doctors With out Borders

Avril Benoit, govt director of Medical doctors With out Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) USA: “By vetoing this decision, the US stands alone in casting its vote in opposition to humanity. The US veto stands in sharp distinction to the values it professes to uphold. By persevering with to supply diplomatic cowl for the continuing atrocities in Gaza, the US is signaling that worldwide humanitarian regulation will be utilized selectively — and that the lives of some individuals matter lower than the lives of others …. The US veto makes it complicit within the carnage in Gaza.”

Human Rights Watch

The worldwide rights teams launched a statement saying: “By persevering with to supply Israel with weapons [and] diplomatic cowl because it commits atrocities, together with collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian inhabitants in Gaza, the US dangers complicity in conflict crimes.”

Posting on X, HRW’s former govt director, Kenneth Roth, mentioned: “The US authorities vetoes a UN Safety Council name for a Gaza ceasefire. The US cites Israel’s proper to defend itself from Hamas, however does Biden actually assume that pummeling Palestinian civilians in Gaza is undertaking that? Or constructing the subsequent Hamas?”

United Kingdom

Britain’s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward mentioned her nation abstained as a result of the decision had no condemnation of Hamas. “Israel wants to have the ability to tackle the risk posed by Hamas and it wants to take action in a fashion that abides by worldwide humanitarian regulation in order that such an assault can by no means be carried out once more,” she instructed the UNSC.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE’s deputy UN ambassador Mohamed Abushahab requested the UNSC: “What’s the message we’re sending Palestinians if we can not unite behind a name to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza? Certainly, what’s the message we’re sending civilians the world over who might discover themselves in comparable conditions?”

Iran

Overseas Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the specter of an “uncontrollable explosion” of the state of affairs within the Center East, after the US veto, the AFP information company reported. “So long as America helps the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) and the continuation of the conflict … there’s a chance of an uncontrollable explosion within the state of affairs of the area,” Amirabdollahian instructed UN Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres in a cellphone name, in response to a ministry assertion.

China

Everlasting consultant to the UN, Zhang Jun, instructed the council: “Condoning the continuation of combating whereas claiming to care in regards to the lives and security of individuals in Gaza is self-contradictory.  Condoning the continuation of combating whereas advocating for the prevention of the spillover results of the battle is self-deceiving. Condoning the continuation of combating whereas making references to the safety of ladies and kids and human rights is hypocritical. All these as soon as once more present us what double requirements are.”

Russia

Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, mentioned: “Our colleagues from the USA have actually earlier than our eyes issued a dying sentence to 1000’s if not tens of 1000’s extra civilians in Palestine and Israel.”

France

Ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, mentioned on the UNSC: “Sadly as soon as once more this council has failed with a scarcity of unity, and by refusing to decide to negotiations the disaster in Gaza is getting worse and the council isn’t finishing its mandate below the constitution.”

Turkey

Minister of Overseas Affairs Hakan Fidan mentioned the US is now left alone on the Gaza concern after it blocked the passage of the decision. “Our pals as soon as once more expressed that America is now alone on this concern, particularly within the voting held on the United Nations as we speak … American political system is now helpless on points associated to Israel,” he instructed state information company Anadolu and nationwide broadcaster TRT in an interview.

Yanis Varoufakis, Greek former finance minister

“Mr Biden, by vetoing 13 out of 15 UN Safety Council members’ name for a right away ceasefire (together with the UK’s cowardly abstention), you’ve gotten joined the Pantheon of latest Conflict Criminals, together with George W. Bush and V. Putin,” he mentioned in a post on X.

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand

“US has blocked UN Safety Council decision calling for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, seemingly unmoved by stunning dying & damage toll & destruction of houses & group infrastructure,” she posted on X.

Craig Mokhiber, former head of UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) workplace in New York

“On the eve of the seventy fifth Anniversary of the Genocide Conference, the US has once more vetoed a ceasefire within the UN Safety Council, thereby demonstrating its additional complicity within the #genocide in #Palestine. Hundreds  have died since its final veto & extra will die now,” he mentioned in a post on X.