China and Russia veto US resolution on Gaza cease fire

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March 22,2024- China and Russia vetod US backed resolution on Gaza cease-fire.

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The measure would have “determined the imperative of an immediate ceasefire” but those against it said it did not go far enough, saying it should have “demanded” a ceasefire.

China and Russia today used their veto power at the UN Security Council  to block a resolution submitted  by the United States calling for an  immediate cease-fire to provide more aid  into the Gaza Strip.

The resolution marked a tougher stance from the United States, which has used its veto at the Security Council several times since Oct. 7 to block resolutions calling for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. 

The resolution was backed by 11 of the council’s 15 members, with Russia, China and Algeria voting against and Guyana abstaining.

In February, the United States vetoed an Algerian-sponsored cease-fire resolution that it said would jeopardize the ongoing negotiations to free the remaining hostages who were taken during Hamas’ cross-border attack. 

Speaking after the vote Friday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused having petty to permanent members Russia and China 

“Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States because it would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed,” Thomas-Greenfield told the council.

The US text called for an “immediate and sustained cease-fire” and a hostage deal to free the remaining captives. It also rejected any effort to “reduce” the territory of Gaza or forcibly displace its civilians and demanded the “lifting of all barriers” on humanitarian assistance entering the Palestinian enclave.

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, accused the United States of a performing “hypocritical spectacle” by not demanding a cease-fire in its resolution, only describing one as an “imperative.”

Us Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that despite divisions, “We want to see an immediate and sustained ceasefire that can allow a much more sustained entrance of humanitarian aid.”

The war has killed nearly 32,000 people, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The UN has warned that famine is imminent in northern Gaza, and the entire Palestinian enclave is facing crisis levels of food security.

We will no longer tolerate pointless resolutions which do not contain a call for a cease-fire which lead us to nowhere,” Nebenzya said before the vote. 

The vote came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet as part of the administration’s efforts to secure a cease-fire and stave off an Israeli military offensive in Rafah. 

Following their meeting, Netanyahu said in a statement that he told Blinken defeating Hamas would require invading Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza sheltering more than half of the territory’s population.

I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if we have to, we will do it alone," he said.