Yesterday, the United States vetoed a resolution of the UN Security Council, presented by Brazil, which called for declaring "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting in Gaza and condemned the attacks on civilians on all sides.
The resolution, which had avoided the call for a cease-fire precisely to win the support of the US, was supported by twelve of the Council members (including China and France), while Russia and the United Kingdom abstained and only the US voted against it, so the resolution was not adopted due to its veto power.
This is the second failed attempt by the Security Council to take joint action to curb the fighting in Gaza, after Russia presented another resolution on Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire, then vetoed by the US, UK and France not to mention specifically Hamas.
The US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, explained the reasons for the veto as follows: "The United States regrets that the resolution does not mention Israel's right to self-defense." In addition, the ambassador advocated for "giving time to diplomacy" and to the arrangements that President Biden and the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres - who is arriving in Egypt today - can carry out. Brazil's resolution was scheduled for Monday, but the US asked for extra time to introduce amendments.
Even Russia, which had warned it would vote against it if it did not include a call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to all attacks on civilians, eventually opted to abstain in order to push through a resolution of minimums, as it ran into the US veto.
China's normally circumspect representative, Zhang Jun, was unusually angry yesterday at the Council's inability to take action that might stop the war. "Our reaction is one of surprise and disgust," said Zhang, before recalling the efforts that all countries have made to reach an acceptable text and the time they have wasted in doing so.
"Some countries - indicated Zhang, without mentioning the USA - are saying that the Council must act, but the way they voted makes us doubt their will to act and their intention to find a solution to the problem". In addition, he took advantage of his turn to speak to express his opinion that Tuesday's bombing of the hospital is the work of Israel. "China strongly condemns the bombing of the hospital, and we demand that Israel meet its obligations under international humanitarian law," he assured.
The Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday criticized the Security Council for not having approved the resolution. "The UN Security Council, which has become even more ineffective, has once again failed to fulfill its responsibility," Erdogan tweeted. "The atrocious attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital has taken the slaughter in Gaza to another level," he added.
Along the same lines, the Turkish Government declared three days of official mourning for the bombing of the hospital, which Israel blames, while the Parliament issued a statement of condemnation - endorsed by all parties - which describes the attack as "crime against humanity".
