Topline
The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution strongly backed by Arab countries on Tuesday calling for an immediate cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, but pushed instead for its own proposal that marks the first time the U.S. has explicitly sought a temporary cease-fire.
Key Facts
The UN Security Council voted 13-1 on the resolution Tuesday morning, with the U.S. forming the lone no vote and the U.K. abstaining—the third time the U.S. has invoked its veto power on a Security Council resolution on the war in Gaza.
That resolution, which was drafted by Algerian officials, demands an immediate cease-fire and pushes both the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas—the Gaza-based militant group that launched the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel—to “scrupulously comply” with international law to protect civilians in southern Gaza.
The resolution also calls for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack, when roughly 250 people were taken captive—just over 100 of those hostages were returned in a temporary cease-fire in November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while more than one in five of those remaining in Gaza are believed to be dead.
The U.S., meanwhile, has pushed for a separate cease-fire proposal conditional on the release of Israeli hostages and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza that also warns against the IDF’s plans for an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, arguing such a push would damage regional peace, the New York Times reported.
In the four-plus months since Israel launched its war in Gaza, the death toll in Palestinian enclave has surpassed 29,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry (more than 1,200 people have died in Israel, primarily on Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials).
Key Background
The Biden administration has begun publicly advocating for a temporary cease-fire and release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Fighting is expected to turn to the territory’s southern border, where more than 1 million displaced Gazans are sheltering, leading the U.S. to push back against Israel’s planned offensive. In a statement on Saturday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S.-backed cease-fire plan would “bring an immediate and sustained period of calm to Gaza for at least six weeks,” lauding that proposal as the “best opportunity to reunite all hostages with their families and enable a prolonged pause in the fighting” to allow key provisions to enter Gaza. She went on to blast the Algeria-sponsored U.N. proposal on the table, saying that plan “would not achieve these outcomes, and indeed, may run counter to them.”
Further Reading
U.S. And Arab Nations Will Push Separate Gaza Ceasefire Plans At The UN—Here’s What To Know (Forbes)
