U.S. Under Fire for Obstructing U.N. Cease-Fire Agreement

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – The United States is being criticized after voting to veto a United Nations resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

In a 13-1 vote in the 15-member Security Council, the U.S. vetoed the Arab-backed resolution, arguing that it would interfere with negotiations that are ongoing as part of a deal to free the remaining hostages still being held in Gaza. The United Kingdom abstained from the vote.

The Arab representative on the council, Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama, said that voting for the resolution supports “the Palestinians right to life” and voting against the resolution is an “endorsement of the brutal violence” against the Palestinians.

However, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the deal still being negotiated includes a pause in the fighting for six weeks, and the Arab resolution would “negatively impact” those negotiations. Thomas-Greenfield added that the Arab resolution would provide Hamas with a break in the fighting without needing to release any of the hostages. She said a break with no hostages released means “the fighting would have continued.”

The United States had proposed an alternate resolution that called for a temporary cease-fire and release of the hostages. White House Middle East envoy Brett McGurk traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to continue negotiations over a potential deal with Hamas.

Qatar and France voiced their regret over the veto vote by the U.S., while China commented that the veto by the U.S. ”sends the wrong message.”

The Palestinian U.N. ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said the veto tells Israel “It can continue to get away with murder.” However, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the resolution would only allow Hamas to rearm its fighters.

This marks the third time the United States has voted to veto a Security Council resolution for a cease-fire.

Despite the vote from the United States, almost every council member remains concerned with the events unfolding in the city of Rafah in Gaza, where Israel continues its assault as it targets Hamas fighters.