Israel may be devastating the Gaza Strip and winning the war on the ground and, in addition, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is leading the diplomatic battle at the UN thanks to the dynamics of bloc confrontation. When the United States does not exercise the veto, then Russia and China do, and the citizens of Gaza continue to suffer military attacks.
The executive body of the UN rejected this Friday a much-publicized resolution for an immediate ceasefire presented by none other than the United States, something unimaginable until a few days ago in the conduct of the faithful squire of the Israelis. If he sought redemption, he was left without forgiveness, although now he has the argument that it is the others who prevent peace. This proposal, which linked the cessation of hostilities to the release of the hostages, was described as “hypocritical” and an internal “electoralist” position of the Biden administration by the Russian representative, whose veto was joined by that of China.
The US, which wanted to assume the role of global savior, obtained eleven votes in favor, when it only needed nine. On this occasion, the United Kingdom, abstentionist on the other occasions when the ceasefire was requested, was at the side of the American friend. It didn’t help at all. In addition to Guyana’s abstention, there were three negative votes. Those from Russia and China (enough to block the measure) were joined by those from Algeria.
Vasili Nebenzia, Moscow’s envoy, made a devastating intervention against it, appealing that this text only favored Israel, by receiving carte blanche to continue attacking Gaza with an international alibi.
For his part, Chinese ambassador Zhang Ju replied that Washington only intended to wash its face with this initiative after its three previous vetoes. “The ceasefire must be immediate and sustained, this is the consensus of the international community,” he said. “This should not be linked to the hostage negotiations, which must continue, and approving this proposal would be sending bad signals to the world,” he insisted.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed her country’s “good faith” in presenting this initiative and accused her rivals of being “cynical.” “China and Russia did not simply want to vote for a US project. They preferred to see us fail rather than see us succeed in the council,” she lamented in this competition.
In parallel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jerusalem, where he met with Netanyahu to talk about the pact to release hostages, while his host is radically against the ceasefire and intends to advance his military project towards Rafah. . Netanyu disgraced him by assuring him that his country will continue the advance to Rafah, with or without collaboration. “We’ll do it alone,” he promised.
Washington’s turn at the UN, which included the obligation of a pact to release the more than 100 hostages that Hamas still holds since its attack on Israel on October 7, is explained by the pariah role that the US has played. had to play, remaining alone in his veto of three council resolutions that called for stopping the fighting, while the situation in Gaza worsened, with more deaths (over 32,000 according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health), and the risk of total famine and mass displacement of refugees. Today there is a fourth block, from the other side of the board.
The resolution stated that the executive body of the United Nations, “determine the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on both sides, allow the distribution of essential humanitarian assistance and alleviate human suffering.”
He added that all this must serve to, with unequivocal international support through diplomacy, “guarantee the connection with the liberation of all those who are still hostages.” The proposed resolution also highlights the “deep concern about the threat of starvation and epidemics induced by the conflict.”
The US administration also used the resolution to reiterate its opposition to Israel’s plan to invade Rafah, the city south of Gaza that is filled with war refugees. In his text he expressed “concern that a ground offensive in Rafah would cause more damage to civilians and more displacement, which could affect neighboring countries.” But Netanyahu is erring and disregarding the advice of President Joe Biden and the European Union. Russia and China criticized that this US concern was pure facade.
Despite everything, this is the strongest language that the White House has used and represents a radical change with respect to its great ally in the Middle East region. Until now he had spoken of pauses and on February 20 he vetoed a proposal from Algeria, with the support of Arab nations, calling for a ceasefire. The US mission replied that it was not the time, because it could interfere in the hostage negotiations and would only give Hamas time to rearm.
Although there has been a linguistic modification, Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan thanked the US for its draft. “It would have been the first time that Hamas was cited and, due to the veto, the terrorists can continue doing what they want,” he remarked in his turn as a guest at the meeting.
And on the other side, the representative of Palestine, Riyad Mansour, maintained in a press conference outside the room that Algeria’s position and his speech expressed its position of rejection for “obvious reasons,” he said. “It was a resolution in favor of one of the parties, Israel was only cited once, and it did not focus on the genocide suffered by the Palestinians in Gaza,” he reiterated.
The opponents this Friday reproached the Americans for their previous behavior, making it clear that decisions have consequences. His attempted amendment was not enough. Russia and China considered that it was not a true request for a ceasefire, but rather that its link to freeing the hostages did not make it an imminent priority, nor did it obligate Israel to do anything.
After the Hamas attack more than five months ago, which left some 1,200 dead and a good number kidnapped, there has been an all-out military escalation by Israel consisting of massive bombings on Gaza. The Israeli army also launched a ground operation focused on the north of the strip and this later expanded to other areas of Gaza.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization, stressed a few days ago that the conditions of residents in Gaza are “inhumane,” while the World Food Bank indicated that the entire population of Gaza is facing an Imminent hunger and starvation as a result of the restrictions imposed by Israel on access for humanitarian expeditions trying to distribute essential products.
Friday’s vote represented the ninth time that the Security Council has voted on a proposed resolution in the war between Israel and Hamas. So far, only two of these initiatives have gone ahead and in both of them the call for a ceasefire was not incorporated.
These circumstances cause the United Nations decision-making body to receive severe criticism for its ineffectiveness and its abandonment of the citizens of Gaza.
The US resolution had to be submitted to several versions, it somehow incorporates those same ideas, but with a much more moderate tone to prevent Russia or China from exercising the veto. All in vain. His antagonists had another reason. They also did not want to give the US the role of leader when it exercised the veto on three occasions.
