
US Alternate Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood raises his hand to veto a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, during a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East. AFP
The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by its 10 non-permanent members in a meeting that called for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" and separately demanded the release of hostages.
All four permanent members of the UNSC voted for the resolution.
A senior US official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of the vote, said the US would only support a resolution that explicitly calls for the immediate release of hostages as part of a ceasefire, according to France 24.
"As we stated many times before, we just can't support an unconditional ceasefire that does not call for the immediate release of hostages," the official said.
Shortly after the US veto, the fourth against a UNSC resolution demanding an end to the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023, Hamas' acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in an interview with Al-Aqsa TV released that there would be no captives-for-prisoners swap deal without an end to the war.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the United States for vetoing a call for a ceasefire in Gaza at the UN Security Council, saying it "emboldens Israel to continue its crimes".
"The US decision to exercise its veto for the fourth time emboldens Israel to continue its crimes against innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon," it said in comments carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Meanwhile, Hamas accused the United States of being "directly responsible" for Israel's "genocidal war" in Gaza after it vetoed the new resolution.
"Again, the United States demonstrates that it is a direct partner in the aggression against our people, that it is a criminal, kills children and women and destroys civilian life in Gaza, and that it is directly responsible for the genocidal war and ethnic cleansing, just like the occupation (Israel)," Hamas said in a statement.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the US veto confirms that Washington is implicated in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Representative of Great Britain, a permanent member of the UNSC, who voted for the Gaza resolution today, expressed her country's "regret" for the resolution's defeat and promised to continue efforts to end the conflict.
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