US vetoes UN demand for Gaza ceasefire

The United States on Thursday again stopped international drives to end catastrophes in the Gaza Strip by vetoing a United Nations Security Council draft resolution for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, despite all other 14 council members backing the call initiated in response to the UN's declaration of famine in the Palestinian territory.

It drew widespread criticism in the Security Council and from the international community, as it was the sixth time the US has cast a veto in the council over the nearly two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas.

"In October 2023, when the US first vetoed a draft resolution on Gaza, the conflict had already claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Today, as the US once again abuses its veto power, the death toll in Gaza has surged to more than 65,000," Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, told the council.

Saying China is deeply disappointed at the result of the vote, Fu asked: How many more innocent lives should be lost before Gaza can achieve a ceasefire? How many more tragedies must occur before humanitarian aid can flow unimpeded? And how much longer must the world wait before the Security Council fulfills its responsibilities?

"Under an extreme blockade, Gaza is already facing famine, with disease spreading rapidly. As a permanent member, the US must face up to its responsibilities, support the council in performing its duties effectively, and safeguard the role and authority of the UN, rather than the opposite," he said.

Algerian UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama said that the 14 council members who voted in favor of the draft have acted with conscience. "At this moment, there can be no ambiguity. Each of us must choose either to act to stop the genocide, or to be counted among those who were complicit," he said.

Pakistan's envoy to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said, "Today's failure sends a dangerous message that the lives of 2 million besieged Palestinians are deemed expendable and can be subordinated to political considerations."

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said there will be no breakthrough on the Middle East question as long as Washington's perception of the Gaza crisis remains unchanged.

For the first time on Tuesday, a UN-mandated investigative commission released its independent analysis, accusing Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza since October 2023. The issue will be central to the 80th UN General Assembly's annual gathering next week. Several close US allies, including France and the United Kingdom, are expected to move toward recognizing an independent Palestinian state.

British UN envoy Barbara Woodward regretted that the Security Council was unable to reach a consensus. "We need a ceasefire more than ever. And yet Israel's reckless expansion of its military operation takes us further away from a deal which could bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza," she said.

Meanwhile, Gulf countries on Thursday decided to step up coordinated military operations after Israel's unprecedented attack on Qatar targeting Hamas leaders.

At an extraordinary session in Doha, the Gulf Cooperation Council's Joint Defense Council decided to enhance intelligence exchange through the Unified Military Command, ensure real-time transmission of air situation data, accelerate the development of a regional ballistic missile early warning system and update defense plans.

The council comprises defense officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. While condemning in "the strongest terms" Israel's attack on Doha, they agreed to hold joint drills among troops and command centers and an "actual air exercise" in the next three months.

Qatar has also met with the president of the International Criminal Court as it seeks legal action against Israel over its strike on its territory last week, Qatar's chief negotiator, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, said on Thursday.

At a moment of growing international alarm about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, nearly half of US people say Israel's military operation in Gaza has "gone too far", according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That's up from November 2023, when 40 percent said so.

The shift came as Israeli tanks and jets on Friday kept pounding Gaza City, the target of a major new ground offensive, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee south.

Still, many have stayed put. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said about 740,000 people, roughly 35 percent of Gaza's 2.1 million population, remain in the north of the enclave.

Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN's humanitarian office, said the situation in Gaza City is "nothing short of cataclysmic".

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.