The UN Security Council passed a UAE-sponsored resolution by a 13-0 vote Friday calling for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, with both the US and Russia abstaining. The resolution reportedly called for “steps toward a sustainable ceasefire” in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a press release:
This resolution repeats so many of the points we have been making: The importance of complying with international humanitarian law [and] [t]he need to reduce civilian casualties. [I]t also backs a two-state solution that would be the best long term guarantee of security and stability for both Israel and the Palestinian people.
Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya explained his country’s abstention, saying that the US “is playing an extremely underhanded game, forcing into the text an essential license for Israel to kill Palestinian civilians in Gaza under the pretext of, and I quote, ‘of creating conditions for a cessation of hostilities.’” Nebenzya also said the US vetoed a Russian amendment to the resolution that would have included an “extremely weak” call for a cessation of hostilities.
The US previously vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire earlier this month, and it vetoed another ceasefire resolution in October.
This is a developing story.
