GS Paper - II

The United States on 20 November 2024 vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, sparking criticism of the Biden administration for again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel’s war with Hamas.

What

• The 15-member council voted on a resolution proposed by 10 non-permanent members that called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 13-month conflict while also demanding the release of hostages.
• Only the US voted against the resolution, using its veto as a permanent council member to block it.
• Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, stated that Washington would only support a resolution explicitly linking a ceasefire to the immediate release of hostages.
• A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked.
• This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it.
• The US had sought compromise, but the resolution’s text risked sending a “dangerous message” to Hamas that “there’s no need to come back to the negotiating table.”
• Israel’s campaign in Gaza has resulted in nearly 44,000 deaths and displaced almost the entire population of the enclave at least once.
• The offensive followed an attack by Hamas-led fighters on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw over 250 hostages taken in Israel.
• The resolution, put forward by Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Switzerland, faced widespread disappointment after being vetoed.
• Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the resolution as “a resolution for appeasement” of Hamas, stating, “History will remember who stood with the hostages and who abandoned them.”