The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution Tuesday calling for a permanent ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza, but has prepared its own resolution calling for a “temporary” ceasefire.

The resolution, introduced by Algeria, passed 13-1, with Great Britain abstaining. A ceasefire would end the war with Hamas still intact and able to carry out attacks.

The U.S. wielded its veto power as one of five permanent members of the Security Council. However, as Breitbart News reported, the U.S. has also prepared an alternate resolution, which would stop Israel from destroying the last Hamas battalions in Rafah.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the UN Ambassador from the U.S., explained the veto in a statement:

Proceeding with a vote today was wishful and irresponsible.

And so, while we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy, we look forward to engaging on a text that we believe will address so many of the concerns we all share: A text that can and should be adopted by the Council, so that we can have a temporary ceasefire as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released.

This temporary ceasefire is critical to getting aid into the hands of Palestinian civilians who desperately, desperately need it.

Israel has been adamant that it needs to attack Hamas in Rafah to fulfill its aim of destroying Hamas as a military threat. It is also concerned that Hamas may be able to use Rafah to move weapons into Gaza under the Egyptian border — or move hostages out.

Israel tamped down speculation Tuesday that Hamas’s local leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, had managed to escape Gaza, via Rafah, through tunnels. Sinwar has not been heard from in weeks, though footage of his underground movements has emerged.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.