US vetoes Gaza ceasefire call at UN

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council push to call for a ceasefire in Gaza that Washington said would have emboldened Hamas.

The resolution demanded "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the war between Israel and the Palestinian group, along with "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."

But Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon claims the resolution "was not a path to peace, it was a road map to more terror, more suffering and more bloodshed.

"Many of you attempted to pass this injustice. We thank the United States for exercising its veto."

Robert Wood, deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said that the US position remained there had "to be a linkage between a ceasefire and the release of hostages."

The war was triggered by the assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, a cross-border raid that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll from the resulting war had reached 43,985 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Of 251 hostages seized during the October 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Almost all of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war, which has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.

Hamas condemned Washington as a "partner in the aggression against our people."

"It is a criminal, kills children and women and destroys civilian life in Gaza."

Since the beginning of the conflict, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice, as the United States used its veto power several times, although Russia and China have as well. "China kept demanding 'stronger language," said a US official who also claimed that Russia had been "pulling strings" with the countries responsible for pushing the latest resolution.

The few resolutions that the United States did allow to pass by abstaining stopped short of calling for an unconditional and permanent ceasefire.

In March, the council called for a temporary ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but this appeal was ignored by the warring parties.