Israel-Hamas war: UN Security Council resolution to demand ceasefire in Gaza fails

A United Nations Security Council resolution to demand a ceasefire in Gaza has failed after it was vetoed by the US.

Of the 15 representatives on the UN member council, 13 voted to back the call but the US blocked it and the UK abstained.

After the vote, US deputy ambassador Robert Wood criticised the council for its failure to condemn Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, and for failing to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself.

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He said halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule and “only plant the seeds for the next war, because Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution”.

“For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire,” Wood added.

The deputy ambassador also called the now-scrapped resolution “imbalanced” and “divorced from reality”, saying it “would not move the needle on the ground in any concrete way”.

The UK’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said: “We cannot vote in favour of a resolution which does not condemn the atrocities Hamas committed against innocent Israeli civilians on 7 October.

“Calling for a ceasefire ignores the fact that Hamas has committed acts of terror and is still holding civilians hostage.”

UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, warned earlier that Gaza was at “breaking point” and desperate people are at serious risk of starvation.

He added the UN believes it will result in “a complete breakdown of public order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt”.

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An emergency meeting of the council was called after Mr Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since 1971.

Article 99 allows the secretary-general to “bring any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.

Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan stressed regional stability “can only be achieved once Hamas is eliminated – not one minute before”.

“So the true path to ensure peace is only through supporting Israel’s mission – absolutely not to call for a ceasefire,” he told the council.

“Israel committed itself to the elimination of Hamas’s capabilities for the sole reason of ensuring that such horrors could never be repeated again. And if Hamas is not destroyed, such horrors will be repeated.”

Ziad Issa, head of humanitarian policy at ActionAid UK, said: “It is devastating to see the UK miss this critical opportunity to vote to call for a permanent ceasefire and end the unbearable suffering of 2.3 million people in Gaza.

“With aid operations no longer able to meaningfully function anywhere in the territory and infrastructure on the brink of collapse, now is the moment for international action.”