- Palestinian figureheads expressed disappointment after the United States vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
- The United States on Friday became the only member to veto the draft UN Security Council resolution.
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Jaffa Mosque hit by an Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on December 8, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Palestinian officials expressed deep disappointment after the United States vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
“It was the United States that failed the Palestinians,” Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Husam Zomlot told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar on Sunday. “The United States stood between humanity and peace and security.” The White House did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
The United States on Friday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution supported by thirteen Security Council members, while the United Kingdom abstained. The vote came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter to bring together the 15-nation council to address the Gaza crisis.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Dec. 8, 2023.
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Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh reiterated the disappointment on Sunday, calling the result “sad” and “shameful.”
“A hundred or more countries have called for an end to the atrocities. Only one country didn't like this and vetoed the situation. I think that’s not wise, that’s not acceptable,” he said.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administered the Gaza enclave before Hamas' surprise victory in 2006 elections. It now has limited control over the occupied West Bank.
The veto was not a step out of the blue, Sanam Vakil, Chatham House program director for the Middle East and North Africa, told CNBC on Monday at the same forum in Doha.
“Given the strength of the US-Israeli relationship, this is not surprising. “The US has decided to keep Israel on a leash to achieve its war goals,” she said.
“At this point, the war aims are very high and aim to decapitate the leadership of Hamas. And that certainly comes at the expense of the Palestinian people.”
The Gaza Strip was the epicenter of heavy bombing after Israel launched retaliatory attacks on October 7 against the unprecedented terror attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. After the Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages, US President Joe Biden flew to Israel as a sign of solidarity and promised billions of dollars in military support. Several other senior US officials have since visited Israel to engage with Benjamin Netanyahu's government, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken making several trips.
U.S. President Joe Biden (L) listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he attends an Israeli War Cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
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Washington's support of Israel – political, financial and military – has long been a pillar of its foreign policy in the Middle East. Israel is also the world's largest recipient of American foreign aid: the United States provides Israel with $3.1 billion in military aid annually.
Both the US and Israel oppose the ceasefire, believing it would only benefit Hamas and allow it to regroup and carry out new attacks. The US supports pauses in fighting – but is increasingly calling on Israel to minimize civilian casualties. Israeli forces say they do not directly target non-combatants and accuse Hamas of entrenching its operational bases and underground tunnel networks near civilian sites.
“While the United States strongly supports a lasting peace in which both Israel and Palestine can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire,” Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said after the decision .
“This would only lay the foundation for the next war, because Hamas has no desire for a lasting peace, for a two-state solution.”
A seven-day lull in fighting – which allowed for an increase in humanitarian aid delivered and distributed in Gaza as well as the release of some hostages held by Hamas and detainees held by Israel – ended on December 1, and hostilities have resumed vigorously since then.
Officials from the Hamas-run health agency say the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 17,900 in the weeks since the Hamas terror attacks. Around 1.9 million residents of the enclave were displaced.
—CNBC's Natasha Turak contributed to this report.