Stalemate at UN Security Council after US, Russian resolutions on Gaza vetoed

News Desk - The Cradle 

While western nations are looking to pass a resolution that places Israel's 'right to self-defense' at the forefront, Russia and China are looking to approve a text that would stop the displacement of Gazans and allow humanitarian aid to enter the coastal enclave

The UN Security Council (UNSC) on 25 October turned down two resolutions put forward separately by the US and Russia that sought to stop the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian resistance and allow humanitarian aid flow into Gaza.  

“I’ll keep this short because, frankly, it’s not worth wasting any more time discussing Russia’s bad faith resolution,” US Ambassador Robert Wood said in his explanation for the joint US and UK refusal of Russia’s resolution. "It is disappointing that Russia would rather try and score political points and further divide this Council than address the current urgent needs of Israelis and Palestinians.” 

The US statement bluntly said Israel has a right to defend itself and demanded that Iran stop exporting weapons to militant groups in the region.  

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized Russia, saying, "Russia has offered up yet another resolution in bad faith.” Previously, the US vetoed a Brazilian-drafted resolution that urged “humanitarian pauses” for the entry of aid to Gaza, adding that it was time for US-led diplomacy after doing so.  

Earlier in Wednesday's meeting, the Permanent Secretary Council members for Russia and China issued a negative vote for the US resolution, calling it a license for Israel to go through with plans of a  Gaza ground invasion.  

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzya, lamented that it’s been two weeks since the start of the war and the UN still fails to send a collective signal of de-escalation.  

“The bloodshed is ongoing, the number of civilian casualties in now in the thousands [and] millions are displaced,” Nebenzya said. “This is the last attempt by the Council to fulfill the noble functions entrusted to it. We urge you not to miss it.” 

He blamed the nation’s voting against Russia’s resolution for caring more about their national agenda than attempting to stop the war collectively.  

“National and narrow self-centered ideological and political interests prevailed over the aim of stopping a humanitarian disaster,” Nebenzya said.  

Both texts held the entry of humanitarian aid in Gaza as the crux of any move forward; both condemned the actions taken by Hamas.  

The critical difference between the two is the US’s inherent mention of Israel’s right to defend itself and Russia’s call for an immediate cancelation of the evacuation order by the Israeli army that called for Palestinians to flee to Southern Gaza.  

Russia had previously put forward a draft resolution that called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” which had also been voted down.