US veto blocks Gaza resolution as Algeria warns of UN’s ‘third genocide failure’
Pakistan’s ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the veto blocked the Council from addressing a worsening humanitarian disaster
NEW YORK, United States (MNTV) — The United States vetoed a Security Council resolution backed by 14 of its 15 members that called for urgent action to halt mass killings in Gaza, prompting warnings that the UN risks failing to prevent genocide for a third time.
Algeria’s UN envoy Amar Bendjama opened the session by apologizing to Palestinians.
“Forgive us, because the world speaks of rights but denies them to you,” he said, accusing Israel of acting with impunity “shielded … by the bias of this international system.”
Comparing the situation to Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995, he cautioned: “This Council has already failed twice in preventing genocide. Today, it appears we are on the verge of a third failure.”
Pakistan’s ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the veto blocked the Council from addressing a worsening humanitarian disaster.
“This was an opportunity to act in the face of unprecedented brutality, devastation and mass displacement in Gaza,” he said, noting that the US move “carries a heavy responsibility.”
Russia’s Vassily Nebenzia highlighted the symbolism of Washington’s decision during the Council’s 10,000th meeting. “We have borne witness to yet another veto … which could have halted the bloodletting,” he said, accusing the US of paralyzing diplomacy by refusing to pressure Israel.
Guyana’s envoy Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said the Council’s decades of inaction over Palestine had enabled “the ongoing commission of genocide,” echoing findings from the UN Commission of Inquiry on the occupied territories. “Displacement. Destruction. Disease. Death. These are the squalid fruits that impunity is bearing in Gaza,” she said.
China’s representative Fu Cong voiced “deep disappointment” over the veto, asking, “How many more innocent lives must be lost before a ceasefire can be achieved in Gaza?”
Denmark’s ambassador Christina Markus Lassen said her vote for the resolution was “a vote for peace … to stop this man-made humanitarian catastrophe.”
The US has now vetoed six resolutions on Gaza since the conflict escalated, leaving the Council deadlocked even as Israeli bombardment and the blockade deepen the enclave’s humanitarian crisis.
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