US vetoes UN Security Council resolution calling for Israel to implement cease-fire

The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution proposed by Algeria on Tuesday that called on Israel to implement a cease-fire against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, criticizing the measure as “wishful” and “irresponsible.”

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.S. is circulating an alternative text that calls for a temporary cease-fire and the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages held by Hamas. 

“For weeks, we have made it incredibly clear that the resolution before the council would not achieve the goal of a sustainable peace and may in fact run counter to it,” Thomas-Greenfield said, explaining her veto of the resolution.

“Proceeding with a vote today was wishful and irresponsible. And so while we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy, we look forward to engaging on a text that we believe will address so many of the concerns we all share, a text that can and should be adopted by the council so that we can have a temporary ceasefire as soon as practical, based on the formula of all hostages being released,” she said.

“This temporary cease-fire is critical to getting aid into the hands of Palestinian civilians who desperately, desperately need it,” the ambassador continued.

The U.S. was the only permanent member of the Security Council to use its veto power to kill the resolution proposed by Algeria. The U.K., another permanent member, abstained for the vote.

Thirteen members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution.

“A vote in favor of this draft resolution is a support to the Palestinians right to life,” said Algeria’s representative to the U.N., Amar Bendjama.

“Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted upon them.”  

The U.S. is increasingly isolated among the international community in its refusal to call on Israel to implement a cease-fire in its war against Hamas. The Biden administration says it is working to get Hamas to accept a proposal that includes a six-week truce in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages, a scale-up of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and the likely release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The U.S. has so far backed Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s response to the truce proposal, saying that Hamas’s response included “non-starters” for Israel. 

But Qatar, one of the mediators of the negotiations for the truce, is accusing Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing the talks.

Alarm is growing over an expected Israeli offensive on the Gazan city of Rafah, an area sheltering more than 1 million Palestinians who have fled fighting elsewhere in the enclave.

Israel has threatened to launch an invasion of Rafah at the start of the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan, raising fears of civilians being pushed across the border into Egypt, and of mass casualties that could further inflame conflicts in the region.