US defends its veto of call for Gaza ceasefire amid demands for truce

The United States defended its veto of a call for the immediate suspension of hostilities in Gaza at a UN meeting Tuesday and again faced demands by the Palestinians and many other countries for a ceasefire now in the IsraelHamas war as well as by a group of rabbis in the galleryUS Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called the Russianproposed amendment to a Dec 22 Security Council resolution which it vetoed disconnected from the situation on the ground The council then adopted a watereddown resolution with the US abstaining calling for urgent steps to immediately allow expanded humanitarian aid into Gaza and to create conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilitiesWood called it striking that those urging an end to the conflict have made very few demands of Hamas following its surprise Oct 7 invasion of southern Israel that killed around 1200 people to stop hiding behind civilians lay down its arms and surrender And he reiterated ongoing US efforts to secure a pause in the fighting to get 136 Israeli hostages out of GazaThe UN General Assembly was meeting because of a resolution it adopted in April 2022 requiring any of the five permanent Security Council members the US Russia China Britain and France that vetoes a resolution to explain why to the 193member world bodyThe US only got support Tuesday from Israels UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan who said a ceasefire would be a victory for Hamas to continue the reign of terror in Gaza which it has ruled since 2007 He said Israel supports every effort to deliver aid and accused Hamas of looting humanitarian assistance before it reaches the people of Gaza He also accused the United Nations of becoming an accomplice to terrorists being obsessed with Gazans ignoring Israeli victims and doing nothing to bring the hostages home and remaining silent on condemning HamasTo illustrate the plight of the hostages Erdan brought a cake with him for Kfir Bibas who will turn oneyearold in the coming days while in captivity He accused the UN of all but forgetting the pain of the innocent baby and asked the General Assembly president to leave the cake with the name Kfir on it on the speakers podium as a painful reminder But as soon as Erdan finished a UN staff member whisked the cake awayAs a sign of the growing division among Jews over the war three dozen rabbis from the group Rabbis 4 Ceasefire came to the UN as tourists to protest Israels offensive in Gaza The majority of them briefly held signs in the empty Security Council chamber saying Biden Stop Vetoing Peace and a small group called for a ceasefire from the balcony of the General Assembly chamber before being hustled out by UN security officersWood the US envoy praised UN humanitarian efforts telling the assembly the United Nations is playing an irreplaceable role in delivering and distributing lifesaving assistance to people in GazaUN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN has seen no reports of looting just videos of some hungry desperate people trying to take food from trucks and reiterated that delivering aid to combat zones is very challengingThe Health Ministry in Hamasrun Gaza has said Israels military campaign has killed over 23000 people more than twothirds of them women and children The count doesnt differentiate between civilians and combatants Last Friday UN humanitarian chief called Gaza uninhabitable and said People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded and famine is around the cornerRiyad Mansour the UN Palestinian ambassador told the assembly his people are being slaughtered and declared the horrors need to end and the only way to end them is a ceasefire The whole world is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire he said pointing to the 153 countries that supported a General Assembly resolution urging an end to the fighting along with UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres humanitarian organizations and moral voicesCubas UN Ambassador Gerardo Pentildealver Portal called it deplorable that the Dec 22 resolution didnt include a call for an immediate cessation of hostilities saying a ceasefire is a priority to halt the genocide against the Palestinian populationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever