Over the previous a number of months, the council majority has repeatedly known as for a direct, unconditional cease-fire in resolutions vetoed by the United States on grounds that they didn’t condemn Hamas or demand the simultaneous launch of Israeli hostages it holds. The third and most up-to-date U.S. veto got here on Feb. 20, when it opposed an Algeria-sponsored measure demanding a direct cease-fire.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, talking Friday as he departed from Tel Aviv on his newest journey to the Middle East, condemned the “cynical” Russian and Chinese vetoes. “We were trying to show the international community a sense of urgency about getting a cease-fire tied to the release of hostages, something that everyone, including the countries that vetoed the resolution should have been able to get behind,” Blinken mentioned. “It’s unimaginable why countries wouldn’t be able to do that.”
The Friday resolution was put on the desk after weeks of U.S. makes an attempt to accommodate different views amid Washington’s worldwide isolation over help for Israel’s warfare effort and the Biden administration’s rising concern over the deteriorating humanitarian state of affairs in Gaza.
In interesting for help, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield mentioned that the resolution mirrored an effort to beat divisions inside the Security Council. “It would be a historic mistake for the council not to adopt this text,” she mentioned earlier than the vote. The measure marked the primary time the United States straight known as for an “immediate” cease-fire. It additionally condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel that killed about 1,200 folks and commenced the warfare.
“First and foremost, we want to see an immediate and sustained cease-fire as part of a deal that leads to the release of all hostages being held by Hamas and other groups, and that will allow much more lifesaving humanitarian aid to get into Gaza,” Thomas-Greenfield mentioned earlier than the vote.
Russia and China, each of that are among the many 5 everlasting members that wield veto energy over the 15-member council, have been joined in opposing the measure by Algeria, a rotational member representing Arab international locations on the council. Guyana abstained.
Numerous international locations supporting the brand new U.S. resolution had voted for the earlier measures demanding a “clean” name for a direct and unconditional cease-fire. Like Guyana, they questioned the absence of any point out of Israel because the perpetrator of the humanitarian state of affairs it decried. While many insisted the hostages nonetheless held by Hamas should be launched, some mentioned that the demise and deprivation inflicted on civilians in Gaza was so extreme that it ought to be addressed on its personal with an unequivocal cease-fire demand.
The Biden administration, together with Qatar and Egypt, has been locked in negotiations for weeks with Israel and Hamas over the phrases of an preliminary six-week cease-fire that might see the discharge of some hostages and a large enhance in humanitarian assist to Gaza. Both the administration and Israel have mentioned that Hamas shouldn’t be given “something for nothing” within the type of a cease-fire with out returning the hostages.
Blinken, in remarks to reporters, mentioned progress was being made within the negotiations, “closing gaps.” But, he mentioned, “almost by definition when you get down to the last items, they tend to be the hardest. So there’s still a lot of … hard work to be done, but we’re determined to try to get it done.”
In remarks after the council vote, Thomas-Greenfield targeted most of her consideration on Russia, which she mentioned had “two deeply, deeply cynical reasons” for its opposition.
“Russia still could not bring themselves to condemn Hamas terrorist attacks,” she mentioned. Calling the second purpose “petty,” she mentioned that Russia “simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States. … It would rather see us fail than to allow this council to succeed.”
“Russia, which has carried out an unprovoked war on its neighbor, has the audacity and the hypocrisy to throw stones when it lives in a glass house,” she mentioned, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Michael Birnbaum in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.