United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a United Nations Security Council meeting about his invoking Article 99 of the United Nations charter to address the humanitarian crisis in the midst of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas at the UN headquarters in New York City, U.S., December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
As the United Nations Security Council prepared for a delayed vote on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, the United States, wielding veto power, explicitly stated its non-support for such a resolution. Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood argued that endorsing a ceasefire would merely sow the seeds for future conflicts, emphasizing Hamas’ lack of genuine interest in a lasting peace.
The Security Council, convened for a briefing by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, faced a resolution crafted by the United Arab Emirates, with the vote postponed until shortly before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with regional ministers in Washington.
Deputy UAE Ambassador to the U.N. Mohamed Abushahab urged the council to respond to global calls for ending the violence. In Washington, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that the Security Council’s failure to adopt the resolution would grant Israel a license to persist in what he described as a massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.
The draft resolution not only demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire but also stressed the protection of civilian populations on both sides and called for the unconditional release of all hostages. The United States, consistently urging condemnation of an alleged Hamas attack on October 7, deemed the council’s inaction a “serious moral failure.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan asserted that a ceasefire had been broken by Hamas on October 7, contending that regional stability and the security of Israelis and Gazans depended on eliminating Hamas. Erdan insisted that supporting Israel’s mission, rather than calling for a ceasefire, was the true path to ensure peace.
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