13 of the 15 member states of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution drafted by Algeria. The United Kingdom abstained from voting, while the United States exercised its veto.
The American veto used by the United States on Tuesday against a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was the third since October 7.
– Voting in favor of this draft resolution is in support of the Palestinians’ right to life. Algeria's ambassador to the United Nations, Ammar Ben Jama, said before the vote that voting against it means standing up to brutal violence and collective punishment.
Negotiation
In her justification for using the veto, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield claimed that demanding an immediate ceasefire could destroy the ongoing ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations between the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar.
These negotiations have been continuing for weeks, but have not been fruitful so far as Israel and Hamas refuse to accept each other's demands.
– Everything the Council does now should help, not hinder, these sensitive and ongoing negotiations. “We believe that the decision now on the table will have a negative impact on these negotiations,” Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote.
Demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, without reaching an agreement obligating Hamas to release the hostages, will not lead to achieving lasting peace. She added that this would instead lead to an escalation of the fighting between Hamas and Israel.
The Americans have now put forward their own draft resolution, which was reviewed by Reuters news agency. The proposal affirms “the Security Council's support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible.”
Two Palestinian children killed in Israeli attacks are taken to their graves in Gaza. According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 12,000 children are among the nearly 30,000 children killed since October.
Photo: AP
Civilian casualties
The United States announced its own draft resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire “as soon as possible.”
The draft also states that the ceasefire should be based “on a model in which all hostages are released and all obstacles to large-scale humanitarian assistance are removed.”
According to Gaza health authorities, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 70,000 others injured in Israeli attacks since October, with 70 percent of the victims being children and women.
An Israeli tank on the Gaza Strip border on Monday.
Photo: AP
The attacks continue
Israel continued its attacks on Gaza on Tuesday night. According to eyewitnesses, the air strikes and battles on Tuesday night mostly targeted the city of Khan Yunis and the eastern parts of Gaza City.
The Israeli army announced, on Tuesday morning, that its forces killed dozens of militants in Khan Yunis during the past 24 hours.
Food deliveries stopped
Despite widespread hunger, the World Food Program once again halted food deliveries to northern Gaza after a convoy was bombed and looted.
On Sunday, the World Food Program led its first convoy of trucks into northern Gaza in three weeks, but faced “total chaos and violence due to the complete collapse of law and order.”
They added that their people are witnessing “unparalleled despair.”
The decision to stop delivering aid to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip is not taken lightly, because we know that it means further aggravation of the situation, as the World Food Program said in a statement.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have reported that there is a significant shortage of food and drinking water in Gaza, and that this leads to a significant degree of disease and hunger.
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