The US has vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution that called for an "immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire" in besieged Gaza.
The draft resolution expressed on Wednesday "grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation, including the risk of famine," and recalled all parties' obligations to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law.
Slovenia proposed the draft resolution on behalf of the Security Council's elected 10 members—Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Slovenia— and received 14 votes.
US Charge d'Affaires ad interim Dorothy Shea said before the vote that "US opposition to this resolution should come as no surprise."
"It is unacceptable for what it does say, it is unacceptable for what it does not say, and it is unacceptable for the manner in which it has been advanced," she added, accusing the Palestine resistance group Hamas of rejecting ceasefire deals.
"Any product that undermines our close ally Israel's security is a non-starter," Shea said.
She once more argued that "Israel has a right to defend itself" and claimed that "it is unconscionable that the UN still has not labelled and sanctioned Hamas as a terrorist organisation."
Veto after veto
The US previously vetoed four Security Council draft resolutions that called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza, marking Wednesday's resolution as the fifth veto.
The US vetoed resolutions in October 2023, December 2023, February 2024, and November 2024, while abstaining in votes on other draft resolutions.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, attacked the text ahead of the vote.
"This resolution doesn't advance humanitarian relief. It undermines it. It ignores a working system in favour of political agendas," he was to tell the council, according to remarks released by his office.
Israel has been carrying out a genocide in Gaza since October 2023. Palestinians have recorded killings of more than 54,470 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Some 11,000 Palestinians are feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes, according to Palestine's official WAFA news agency.
Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.
Over the course of the genocide, Israel has reduced most of the blockaded enclave to ruins and practically displaced all of its population.
