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At UN, Russia and China Veto US Effort at Gaza Cease-Fire
Vasily A. Nebenzya, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, speaking at the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - 8 December 2016 (Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation)
March 22, 2024 4:17 AM update March 22, 2024 2:32 PM
By Margaret Besheer
UNITED NATIONS —
The U.N. Security Council failed yet again on Friday to demand a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a halt to the fighting.
“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 see this council succeed,” U.S. Ambassador Linda-Thomas Greenfield said.
Eleven of the 15 council members supported the U.S. text, while Algeria joined Russia and China in voting against it. Guyana abstained.
The United States drafted the resolution following its three earlier vetoes of council texts calling for a halt to the fighting. In what some council members said was vague language, the U.S. draft “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire” to protect civilians, get more humanitarian aid in and hostages out.
“However, to save the lives of peaceful Palestinian civilians, this is not enough,” Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said of the language. “This is in no way what is stipulated in the mandate of the U.N. Security Council — the council, which is invested with a unique mechanism to demand a cease-fire, and where necessary to compel compliance therewith.”
China’s envoy echoed that, saying the draft resolution was “ambiguous” and did not call for an immediate cease-fire.
Guyana, which joined the council in January, abstained. Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said her government could not support a resolution that did not “unequivocally” call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
“The demand for a cease-fire should not be linked to or conditioned on the release of hostages,” she said. “The taking of hostages is strictly prohibited under international law, and their release must be unconditional.”
She also questioned why only Hamas was condemned for its actions and not Israel, as well.
“For example, who is responsible for 1.5 million Palestinians taking refuge in Rafah? And who has announced a planned military ground offensive there? To whom is the demand for compliance with obligations under international law regarding the protection of civilians and civilian objects, humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian relief and medical personnel, their assets and infrastructure applicable?” she asked.
The condemnation of Hamas has been a repeated sticking point for some council members. Thomas-Greenfield said it’s “outrageous” that the council has failed to condemn their terror attack on Israel.
This was the seventh time the council failed to agree on a cease-fire resolution since the war started in October. The International Crisis Group’s United Nations director, Richard Gowan, told VOA that many council members may feel that Russia and China “blew up” what has been the best opportunity to engage with the United States to achieve one.
“If the resolution had passed, it would at least have been a hook for further negotiations and sent a signal to Israel to step back from Rafah,” he said. “Now the Israelis may sense that they can push forward with their operations without facing any censure at the U.N. So, the main beneficiary of the Russian-Chinese vetoes is [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
A group of seven elected council members — Algeria, Guyana, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland — have drafted their own text that “demands” an immediate cease-fire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is already underway.
Diplomats said the text will be voted on Saturday morning. Russia and China said they would support it, but Thomas-Greenfield indicated that in its current form it may not have Washington’s support.
“If that alternative resolution comes up for a vote and does not support the diplomacy happening on the ground, we may once again find this council deadlocked,” she said. “I truly hope that that does not come about.”
Regional diplomacy
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his efforts in the region.
He met with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv on Friday, as parallel efforts continue to secure a six-week-long cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for the release of hostages seized on October 7. It would also allow for a massive scaling up of aid to starving Palestinians.
On Thursday, he told reporters after meetings in Egypt that “the gaps are narrowing" and that there’s still “difficult work to get there,” but he believes a deal is possible.
The main point of contention in negotiations has been that Hamas says it will release the remaining hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war, whereas Israel says it will consider only a temporary pause.
In Tel Aviv, Blinken met one-on-one with Netanyahu — followed by a discussion with Israel’s war cabinet — to persuade them not to conduct a military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which many believe would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the territory.
The State Department said Blinken emphasized the need to protect civilians in Gaza and increase and sustain humanitarian assistance from land and sea routes.
Israel at the U.N.
At the United Nations, Israel’s ambassador told the Security Council that his government does not want to send its “sons and daughters” to fight in Rafah, but that there is “no alternative” as its military must go after the four remaining Hamas battalions it says are in the city.
“The road to a permanent cease-fire passes through Rafah,” Ambassador Gilad Erdan said.
More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, many of them after fleeing other parts of Gaza to try to find safety amid the war.
Hamas’ October 7 terror attack inside Israel triggered the war, killing about 1,200 people. Israel’s subsequent counteroffensive in Gaza has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Delivery of humanitarian assistance has been difficult, and a U.N.-backed food insecurity report said last week that more than 1 million Palestinians are at risk of famine in the coming weeks.
VOA’s State Department bureau chief Nike Ching contributed to this report. Copyright © Mar 2024 Voice of America. All Rights Reserved.
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