Anger at UN Security Council after another US veto

The United States once again blocked on Thursday the adoption by the U.N. Security Council of a resolution demanding a cease-fire and humanitarian access to Gaza, angering member states determined not to give up on influencing the issue despite repeated U.S. vetoes.

"This is a dark moment" for this Council, lamented Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad. "The world is watching. The cries of children should pierce our hearts, the anguish of mothers should shake our conscience," he added, promising to "continue to act and speak."

"Forgive us because this Council was not able to save your children," Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama, addressing the people of Gaza, said in turn. "Forgive us because the world talks about rights but denies yours, you Palestinians."

The majority of Council members are increasingly and explicitly expressing their frustration at the inability to pressure Israel to end the suffering of Gaza residents.

The Council's 10 elected members began discussions on this draft resolution at the end of August in response to the U.N.'s official declaration of famine in the Palestinian territory devastated by the war waged by Israel for nearly two years.

An initial version of the text mainly demanded the immediate removal of all obstacles to the entry of aid.

But according to diplomatic sources, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia were skeptical about the point of a purely humanitarian resolution from a body meant to maintain world peace and security, which in any case was likely to be vetoed by the United States.

The draft blocked Thursday (14 votes in favor, one against) did call for an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid, but also demanded "an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire in Gaza," as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.

'Human failure'

This is a message the United States has already rejected several times, most recently in June, when it again used its veto to protect its Israeli ally. "This resolution fails to recognize the reality on the ground, the fact that there has been a significant increase in the flow of humanitarian aid," said U.S. diplomat Morgan Ortagus.

Activists blocked Ortagus' way out of the U.N. Security Council session to protest the U.S. veto of a resolution condemning Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The draft text "did not include a condemnation of Hamas," Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon denounced. "This is not diplomacy; it is a capitulation," he added.

Why did the rest of the Council embark on this new attempt doomed to the same result? To send "the message that the Security Council is not turning its back on civilians who are starving, hostage and the demand for a cease-fire," explained Danish Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen before the vote.

"A generation risks being lost, not just because of the war but also because of hunger and despair ... It is this catastrophic humanitarian situation, this humanitarian and human failure that forced us to act today," she added.

Israel faces growing international pressure to end this war that is devastating Gaza, triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil on Oct. 7, 2023. The issue will be central to next week's annual U.N. summit in New York. After more than two and a half months of blockage, Israel has allowed since mid-May once again the entry into Gaza of a limited number of U.N. trucks, which the U.N. denounces as far from sufficient.

For the first time, an international investigative commission mandated by the U.N., but not speaking on behalf of the U.N., on Tuesday accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza since October 2023 with the intent to "destroy" the Palestinians.