UN decries Gaza as a ‘spiraling humanitarian nightmare’ as cease-fire resolution fails

The United Nations (U.N.) secretary-general decried the situation in Gaza as a “spiraling humanitarian nightmare” on the same day the U.S. blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“The people of Gaza are being told to move like human pinballs – ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival,” Secretary-General António Guterres said Friday, according to the U.N. “But nowhere in Gaza is safe.”

Guterres invoked Article 99 of the United Nations Charter on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, an action that has the aim of raising alarm to the Security Council on a matter that risks international peace and security, on Wednesday. 

On Friday, the U.S. prevented the passage of a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire using its veto power. The resolution would have required Israel to stop its war against Hamas.

The U.S. was against the draft resolution because its text was “divorced from reality,” said Robert Wood, alternate representative for special political affairs, in remarks to the Security Council. 

“We still cannot comprehend why the resolution’s authors declined to include language condemning Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack on Israel on October 7,” Wood said, explaining other recommended provisions raised by the U.S. were ignored. 

The resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, received thirteen votes in favor. The United Kingdom abstained, while the U.S., which is a permanent member of the council, used the veto power it holds to block the resolution.

Over 17,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s retaliatory operations for a surprise attack by Hamas two months ago that killed 1,200 Israelis, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.