Russia and China vetoed a United States-led resolution on Friday at the United Nations Security Council that voiced support for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war contingent on the release of hostages,
Politico reports.
The resolution voiced support for an “immediate and sustained” cease-fire contingent on the release of hostages, calling it “an imperative.” It also condemned the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and continued attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, while reiterating the need for a two-state solution to solve the decadeslong Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The wording of the resolution was the sharpest to date that the United States has proposed to the world body on the Israel-Hamas war. In previous resolutions, the U.S. only called for finite pauses in hostilities and it vetoed past resolutions that contained calls for “immediate” cease-fires.
The U.S. proposal also contained provisions that would likely anger Israel — including clauses expressing “grave concern” about a looming Israeli operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah and demanding the opening of more border crossings between Israel and Gaza so as to improve aid flows into the territory.
But the U.S.-led resolution stopped short of directly demanding or ordering a cease-fire, and it also did not insist upon a permanent cease-fire. Russia assailed the resolution as an “empty rhetorical exercise” designed to “play to the voters to throw them a bone in the form of some kind of a mention of a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Though a majority of members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, Russia, China and Algeria voted against it. Russia and China are permanent members of the Security Council, and they, like the U.S., can wield a veto over the body’s actions. As the war in Gaza has progressed, Russia, China and the United States have frequently used their vetoes to stop related actions at the Security Council, largely paralyzing the body.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield slammed Russia and China as “cynical” and “hypocritical” for their opposition.
“This was the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. And a permanent member of this council can’t even condemn it. I’m sorry. It’s really outrageous, and it’s below the dignity of this body,” Thomas-Greenfield said in remarks after the vote. “Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States because it would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed.”
