The United States vetoed Friday an Arab-backed UN draft resolution calling for protective measures for the Palestinians that won backing from 10 countries at the Security Council. A US resolution condemning Hamas also failed.
China, France and Russia were among the countries that voted in favor of the draft put forward by Kuwait on behalf of Arab countries. Four countries, Ethiopia, the UK, the Netherlands and Poland abstained.
A draft resolution requires nine votes to be adopted in the 15-member council and no veto from the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council the measure was “wildly inaccurate in its characterization of recent events in Gaza” by condemning Israel for the violence.
The Kuwait-drafted text had called for “measures to guarantee the safety and protection” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and requested a UN report to propose an “international protection mechanism.”
The US, meanwhile, brought its own text to the council: A proposal that would condemn Hamas for its role in the escalation of violence in Gaza in the last two months.
The United States was the only country that voted in favor of the draft resolution in the Security Council. Eleven countries abstained while Bolivia, Kuwait and Russia opposed it.
Israeli envoy to the UN Danny Danon lamented the failure of Washington’s motion, saying “Peace and stability will come to our region only when the international community is brave enough to call out the terrorists by name.”
He condemned Kuwait’s “hypocritical” resolution that did not “even mention the terrorists of Hamas as the root cause of violence and unrest in our region.” However, he asserted that thanks to the Americans’ position, “the rules of the game are changing in the Security Council and that the double standard against Israel will not stand.”
The council met for a closed-door discussion before the vote Friday, after weeks of urgent discussions about the violence.
It was the second time that Haley has resorted to US veto power to block a UN measure on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In December, Haley vetoed a draft resolution that rejected President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem after all 14 other council members supported it.
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