NEW YORK – As Israel goes ahead with its war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, Russia and China on Friday vetoed a US-backed draft resolution at the UN Security Council on Gaza for not ‘unequivocally’ calling for a ceasefire.
Explaining why he vetoed the resolution, the Russian representative said it was “diluted formulation” of a ceasefire call that will not save Palestinian lives. Moreover, it fails to rein in the genocidal Israel at a time when the Palestinian enclave “has been virtually wiped off the face of the earth”.
Without directly calling for a ceasefire, the text “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and alleviate humanitarian suffering, and toward that end unequivocally supports ongoing international diplomatic efforts to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.”
The draft condemns Hamas, demands the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale, and rejects any forced displacement of the civilians in Gaza as a violation of international law.
The text of the resolution underwent six revisions during a month of negotiations. Russia and China exercised their vetoes, while Algeria also voted against and Guyana abstained. The other 11 Security Council members voted in favour, including permanent members France and Britain.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield described Russia and China’s vetoes as “cynical” and “petty,” accusing both of “not doing anything diplomatically to advance lasting peace or to meaningfully contribute to the humanitarian response efforts.”
Her Russian counterpart, Vasily Nebenzia, said the US cast a veto in the Security Council four times “in cold blood”. “Six months have elapsed. Gaza has virtually been wiped from the earth and now the US representative, without blinking, has been asserting that Washington has finally begun to recognize the need for a ceasefire,” he said.
Nebenzia said that “this sluggish thought process in Washington has come at the cost of the lives of 32,000 peaceful Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women and children.”
He added that the draft is “extremely politicized,” adding that its purpose is to throw “a bone to US voters in the form of some kind of a ceasefire in Gaza,” and “to ensure impunity for Israel, whose crimes are not mentioned in the draft.”
The Russian envoy also said the draft gave “an effective green light” to Israel to mount a military incursion into Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinian have taken refuge.
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN, said the US draft was ambiguous on the “most central issue,” that of a ceasefire, and so fell short of the consensus of council members and the expectations of the international community.
“The US draft sets up preconditions for a ceasefire, which is no different from giving a green light to continued killings, which is unacceptable,” Zhang said.
The Chinese envoy added that the US text does not clearly oppose Israel’s repeated declarations of its intent to invade Rafah, “which would send an utterly wrong signal and lead to severe consequences.”
Zhang said that if the US is serious about a ceasefire, it should vote for a new resolution tabled by seven elected members of the council and calling unequivocally for a Ramadan ceasefire. A vote on the resolution is set to take place on Saturday morning.
