US vetoes UN Security Council demand for Gaza ceasefire
The United States has voted against a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The United States has vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the war-torn enclave.
The other 14 countries on the council voted in favour of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month.
“The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote, arguing it would also undermine US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire.
Washington is Israel’s biggest ally and arms supplier.
A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza fails to pass in the UN Security Council after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected Council members
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The Security Council vote came as Israel pushes ahead with an offensive in Gaza after ending a two-month truce in March. Gaza health authorities said Israeli strikes killed 45 people on Wednesday, while Israel said a soldier died in fighting.
Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward criticised the Israeli government’s decisions to expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict humanitarian aid as “unjustifiable, disproportionate and counterproductive.”
Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza.
Hamas condemned the US veto, describing it as showing “the US administration’s blind bias” towards Israel. The draft Security Council resolution had also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and others.
The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians.
Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble.
Under global pressure, Israel allowed limited UN-led deliveries to resume on May 19. A week later a controversial new aid distribution system was launched by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the US and Israel.
Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies. Israel and the US are urging the UN to work through the GHF, which is using private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
“No one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry or thirsty,” Shea told the Security Council, adding that the draft resolution did not “acknowledge the disastrous shortcomings of the prior method of aid delivery.”
The UN and international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral, militarises aid and forces the displacement of Palestinians.
Despite US and Israeli criticism of the UN-led Gaza aid operation, a US ceasefire plan proposes the delivery of aid by the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels. Israel has agreed to the ceasefire plan but Hamas is seeking changes that the US has rejected as “totally unacceptable.”
Ahead of the UN Security Council vote, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher again appealed for the UN and aid groups to be allowed to assist people in Gaza, stressing that they have a plan, supplies and experience.
“Open the crossings – all of them. Let in lifesaving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in. Ensure our convoys aren’t held up by delays and denials,” Fletcher said in a statement.
A similar humanitarian-focused draft resolution is now expected to be put to a vote in the 193-member UN General Assembly, where no countries have a veto power and it would likely pass, diplomats said.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon warned: “Don’t waste more of your time, because no resolution, no vote, no moral failure, will stand in our way.”
Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said: “Today’s proposed UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire could not have been more detached from reality. On October 7, Hamas—with backing from Iran—launched a barbaric terrorist assault on Israel. It still holds 58 hostages and has made clear it would strike again.
This is a group that not only targets civilians but also hijacks humanitarian aid, depriving the people of Gaza of vital supplies. Yet time and again, Security Council members turn a blind eye.
That is why the United States was forced to exercise its veto once more—and we are grateful for the Trump administration’s steadfast support of Israel as UN bodies continue to be weaponized against the world’s only Jewish state.
Recent weeks have shown the danger of ignoring the facts. Doing so doesn’t just endanger Israel—it places Jewish communities everywhere at risk. It’s time the international community recognized the threat posed by Hamas, Iran, and their proxies—not only to Israel, but to global stability.”
By: Michelle Nichols and Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer/Reuters with J-Wire
