Another attempt by the United Nations Security Council to address the October 7 Hamas massacre of over 1,200 people in Israel failed on Wednesday as permanent members China and Russia vetoed an American-drafted resolution, supported by most Council members, that would have condemned the jihadist terrorist group.
The American draft resolution’s failure preceded a vote on a draft resolution by Russia – the second introduced by the Hamas-friendly government of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin – calling for a “ceasefire” preventing Israel from taking measures to protect its citizens from another Hamas slaughter. That resolution failed decisively, garnering only four votes.
The Security Council has not addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups since 2016 and has done nothing to act in the face of the Hamas mass murder nearly 20 days ago, remaining in a state that Brazil’s representative to the body lamented as “paralysis” following the first few failed votes on prospective resolutions. Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on that day for a terrorist onslaught it named the “al-Aqsa flood,” in which terrorists went door-to-door killing, raping, torturing, and abducting entire families.
Hamas terrorists opened fire on concert-goers at a music festival, decapitated babies and burned them alive, and took over 200 hostages, most of which remain in Gaza.
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The failed votes on Wednesday followed a controversial episode where the secretary-general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, addressed the Council and appeared to blame Israel for the carnage Hamas wrought against entire families in their own homes, asserting, “the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.” The Israeli government demanded Guterres’s resignation in response.
The American-drafted resolution proposed on Wednesday garnered ten votes – a draft needs nine votes to be adopted, assuming none of the permanent member countries vetoes it – after U.S. representatives amended it to tone down its support for Israel’s right to self-defense. It contained language asserting that the Security Council “unequivocally rejects and condemns … [the] heinous attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups” against Israel, and listed them as the “taking and killing of hostages, murder, torture, rape, [and] sexual violence.” It did not uphold Israel’s right to self-defense specifically, but, rather, “the inherent right of all States to individual and collective self-defense.”
The draft also demanded “humanitarian pauses” in attacks on Hamas to allow “humanitarian corridors” in Gaza, Hamas’s stronghold.
The governments of China and Russia both used their veto powers against the resolution. The Chinese envoy to the Council, Zhang Jun, disparaged the draft as “seriously out of balance and confuses right and wrong.”
“The draft does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting, and it does not help resolve the issue. Based on the above, the draft text is evidently not in a position to be adopted,” Zhang asserted.
“The draft resolution is evasive on the most urgent issue of ending the hostility,” Zhang continued. “It has never been able to call for an immediate ceasefire in clear and unambiguous term[s]. … If a Council resolution is ambiguous on the question of war and peace and of life and death, it is not only irresponsible, but also extremely dangerous. It is tantamount to paving the way for large scale military actions and giving the green light to further escalation of war.”
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The Russian envoy to the Security Council, Vassily Nebenzia, called it “extremely deplorable” that the Security Council had yet to agree on a statement about the Hamas mass killings – in a statement explaining why he vetoed a resolution most Council members voted in favor of approving.
Nebenzia expressed bitterness at the Security Council rejecting a Russian draft resolution last week, claiming that it was a “depoliticized” resolution and accusing the countries who failed to support it of “selfish, ideological, and political” interests.
“Now the United States, seeking to subdue the harsh criticism of its veto on the part of the international community, tries to push through a new draft resolution that is full of politicized, inappropriate and highly questionable provisions,” Nebenzia ranted, calling the majority-approved draft resolution “politicized to the bone.”
“We see no point in supporting a document that is designed solely for one purpose – to serve the geopolitical interests of one member of the Security Council,” Nebenzia asserted, “which is not only unable to stop escalation, but actually gives it a green light, only furnishing further military steps with a number of toothless humanitarian conditions.”
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Russia then presented another draft resolution that the Security Council decisively rejected. Only China, Gabon, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined Russia in voting for its draft resolution. Nine countries abstained, while the United Kingdom and America voted against it. An American or British vote against would have counted as a veto had enough states supported the resolution.
“The bottom line is this: Russia has offered up yet another resolution in bad faith,” American Representative to the Council Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in response to the failed Russian draft. Thomas-Greenfield also condemned Russia and China for vetoing the popular American draft resolution.
“Today, Russia and China prevented the UN Security Council from sending a clear message to the world – and most importantly, to Israelis and Palestinians – that we are determined to meet this difficult moment,” she wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “While they obstruct, we continue to work with all Member States to support the efforts of @antonioguterres , @POTUS , @SecBlinken , and regional actors to build a more peaceful and secure future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
The inaction on Wednesday followed nearly two weeks of official silence from the Security Council – notable particularly because the Council first met to address the Hamas terrorist attack on October 8, the day after the slaughter. That meeting, which was held behind closed doors, was reportedly a preliminary discussion and did not involve any attempts to present resolutions on the matter.
The first wave of failed Security Council resolutions featured two competing resolutions – one by Brazil, the current president of the Security Council, and one by Russia. The Russian resolution did not mention Hamas at all and lost its vote categorically. The Brazilian resolution, which condemned the attack but did not affirm Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorism, received enough votes to pass but was vetoed by the United States.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
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