New York [US], December 10: World leaders, international rights groups and United Nations officials have criticised the United States for vetoing a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and failing to halt the war.
A UN resolution on the pause in hostilities failed to pass on Friday at the UN Security Council after the United States vetoed the proposal and Britain abstained.
Here are some of the reactions:
Palestine
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the US's veto made it "complicit" in war crimes in Gaza. "The president has described the American position as aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values, and holds the United States responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip," a statement from his office said.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the veto was "a disgrace and another blank cheque given to the occupying state to massacre, destroy and displace".
Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the UNSC that the result of the vote was "disastrous". "If you are against the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian people you must stand against this war. And if you support it then you are enabling this destruction and displacement regardless of your intentions . Millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance. Every single one of them is sacred, worth saving."
Amnesty International
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general, said on X that the US veto "displays a callous disregard for civilian suffering in the face of a staggering death toll". The statement also said that Washington "has brazenly wielded and weaponized its veto to strongarm the UN Security Council, further undermining its credibility and ability to live up to its mandate to maintain international peace and security".
Doctors Without Borders
Avril Benoit, executive director of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) USA: "By vetoing this resolution, the US stands alone in casting its vote against humanity. The US veto stands in sharp contrast to the values it professes to uphold. By continuing to provide diplomatic cover for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, the US is signalling that international humanitarian law can be applied selectively - and that the lives of some people matter less than the lives of others .. The US veto makes it complicit in the carnage in Gaza."
Human Rights Watch
The international rights groups released a statement saying: "By continuing to provide Israel with weapons [and] diplomatic cover as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the US risks complicity in war crimes."
Posting on X, HRW's former executive director, Kenneth Roth, said: "The US government vetoes a UN Security Council call for a Gaza ceasefire. The US cites Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas, but does Biden really think that pummeling Palestinian civilians in Gaza is accomplishing that? Or building the next Hamas?"
United Arab Emirates
The UAE's deputy UN ambassador Mohamed Abushahab asked the UNSC: "What is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza? Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?"
Russia
Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said: "Our colleagues from the USA have literally before our eyes issued a death sentence to thousands if not tens of thousands more civilians in Palestine and Israel."
Source: Qatar Tribune
