(New York Times) Farnaz Fassihi - The U.S. on Friday vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The U.S. argued that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas attacks. The vote was 13 to 1, with Britain abstaining. Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood called the resolution "not only unrealistic, but dangerous - it would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7." Wood said the U.S. had tried to negotiate changes to the resolution, but "nearly all of our recommendations were ignored," including adding a condemnation of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and an endorsement of Israel's right to self-defense. Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said Israel had been taking steps to keep civilians safe "despite attempts by their own leaders to deliberately sacrifice them as human shields. That's why we published a very detailed map to help civilians evacuate; it's why we surrendered the element of surprise by urging the evacuation of areas before moving in. We believe we are setting the highest possible standard for the minimization of civilian casualties in counterterrorism operations in urban areas."
2023-12-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive