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U.S. Explains Vote on Nonbinding Security Council Resolution on Gaza War
(U.S. Mission to the UN) U.S. UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday: "A ceasefire could have come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages. Months ago. Instead, Hamas continues to stand in the way of peace, to throw up roadblocks, cower in tunnels beneath Gaza's cities, and under civilian infrastructure, and hide among the civilian population." "Certain key [U.S.] edits were ignored, including our request to add a condemnation of Hamas. And we did not agree with everything in this resolution. For that reason, we were unfortunately not able to vote yes. However, as I said before, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this nonbinding resolution. And we believe it was important for the Council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages." "A future where Palestinians and Israelis live side-by-side in peace, in two democratic states of their own, [is] something that will never happen with Hamas - a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel and killing Jews; a terrorist organization this body still fails to condemn - controlling Gaza."