International institutions keep trying to save Gaza. The US won't let them
The US claims to lead the so-called rules-based order, but by flexing its veto power at the UN Security Council once again, it continues to show the hypocrisy of its own rhetoric, writes one analyst.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield casts a veto vote during a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel's war on Gaza, at UN Headquarters in New York City on February 20, 2024 (AFP/Angela Weiss).
For the third time in four months, the United States has vetoed a United Nations resolution calling on Israel to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
The move comes as the death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 29,000 people - mostly women and children. Nearly 70,000 people are injured and still thousands more are unaccounted for under the rubble.
The world has witnessed the horrors of Gaza live-streamed for over four months, as people across the world protest and implore their governments and international institutions to take action to end the ongoing slaughter.
That another UN ceasefire resolution was shut down illustrates the inability of these institutions to uphold the international order they were created to protect. However, a deeper look shows that it is not these global bodies that have failed to do their job.
Displaced Palestinians gather to receive food at a government school in Rafah in southern Gaza on February 19, 2024, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the resistance group Hamas. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP).
It is the most powerful nation in the world - the US that claims to lead this so-called rules-based order—that has proven over and over the hypocrisy of its own rhetoric.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - nearly every international organisation has done precisely what they were designed to do.
In December, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99, the most-powerful tool at his disposal, to urge action to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.
The UNSC and General Assembly have drafted and overwhelmingly voted in favour of resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages, only to be thwarted by the United States and its veto power time and again.
The US just issued its 3rd veto in 137 days of genocide to continue it.
— Noura Erakat (@4noura) February 20, 2024
Against the will of 153 states which invoked Uniting for Peace twice.
Against the extraordinary invocation of Art 99 by the UNSG.
Against the ICJ ruling finding plausible genocide & a duty to prevent it
In the same month, UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder posted video testimonies from Gaza begging people to care about the children being killed. He reiterated that nowhere is safe and stated "Inaction, at its core, is the approval of the killing of children in Gaza." Elder has continued to tell stories of the brutalities he witnessed in Gaza and the impact of the war on innocent children.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and the need to protect patients and healthcare workers. But these calls have gone ignored by Israel, which continues its attacks on hospitals as Gaza’s healthcare system crumbles into ruins.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave an emotional plea last month for a ceasefire, describing the conditions in Gaza as "hellish" and "beyond words."
Possibly most impactful internationally was the decision by the ICJ to reject Israel’s request to dismiss South Africa’s genocide case against it, putting Israel on trial for genocide at the world’s highest court.
Pro-Palestinian protesters pose for a photo in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as judges rule on emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 26, 2024 (REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw).
Despite significant support for a ceasefire within his own party, a strong international consensus calling for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, and the decision of the world’s highest court that Israel’s actions plausibility constitute genocide, the Biden administration has unequivocally maintained its support for Israel’s war on Palestinians.
Already having bypassed Congress twice to send additional weapons to Israel over the last four months, a report late last week from the Wall Street Journal stated that the administration is planning to send still more weapons to Israel.
Days later —and one day after UN human rights experts expressed alarm over Israel subjecting Palestinian women and girls to sexual violence—the US vetoed for a third time a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Shortly after the UN vote, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu shared a post on social media declaring, "No pressure will stop us," suggesting that international law and pressure would not deter him from continuing down this path.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, in Jerusalem, February 18, 2024 (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun).
What makes Netanyahu so confident is knowing that he has the full backing of the United States, without which the ongoing killing of Palestinians—especially children—in Gaza would not be possible.
In fact, the atrocities in Gaza are only possible because of continued US weapons and aid, and the outright refusal of the Biden administration to support the international community’s efforts to end the war.
The latest US veto for a ceasefire comes a month after the ICJ’s ruling stating that Israel’s actions are plausibly genocidal. This means the US just rejected the opportunity to stop a genocide.
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