World slams US ceasefire veto at UN Security Council on Israel’s Gaza war
Russia pledges not to give up as China says US veto gives a green light for Israel’s continued slaughter in Gaza.
Palestinians carry the bodies of children killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza at the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 [Adel Hana/AP]
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The United States has again vetoed a draft UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, prompting widespread criticism from rivals and allies alike.
The move on Tuesday was the third US veto of a UNSC resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, and came a day after Washington circulated a resolution that would support a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of all Israeli captives from the Palestinian enclave.
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The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the strong support from countries around the globe for ending the devastating conflict that has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.
(Al Jazeera)
Here’s how countries and world leaders responded.
China
Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the UN, expressed “strong disappointment and dissatisfaction” with the US, according to the Xinhua news agency.
“The US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more dangerous one,” said Zhang, adding that objection to a ceasefire in Gaza is “nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter”.
“Only by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can the world prevent the fires of hell from engulfing the entire region,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Russia
Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said the US veto marked “another black page in the history of the Security Council”.
He accused the US of trying to play for time so that Israel could complete its “inhumane plans” for Gaza, namely to squeeze the Palestinians out of the territory and completely “cleanse” the enclave.
He added that no matter how bitter the “aftertaste” of the vote may be, “we are not in the mood to give up”.
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France
France’s UN envoy Nicolas de Riviere expressed regret that the resolution “could not be adopted, given the disastrous situation” in Gaza.
De Riviere added that France, which voted for the resolution, would continue to work towards all captives being released and for a ceasefire to be “implemented immediately”.
France regrets that the 🇩🇿 resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza could not be adopted, given the disastrous situation on the ground.
All hostages must be released now and a ceasefire must be implemented immediately.
France will remain committed at the UNSC to that end. pic.twitter.com/dqwSWwgVQZ
— Nicolas de Rivière (@NDeRiviere) February 20, 2024
Algeria
Algeria’s envoy said the UNSC has “failed once again” and warned the move could have profound consequences for the Middle East as a whole.
“Our message to you today is that the international community should respond to the calls for ending the killing of Palestinians by calling for an immediate ceasefire. All those impeding such calls should review their policies and their calculations because wrong decisions today will have a cost on our region and our world tomorrow. And this cost will be violence and instability,” Amar Bendjama said.
“So ask yourselves, examine your conscience. What will your decisions today cause? How will history judge you?”
Palestine
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told Al Jazeera that the US veto was “very regrettable”.
“Call it whatever, humanitarian, describe it as you wish, but immediate ceasefire, as requested by the secretary-general of the UN, and almost all humanitarian agencies of the United Nations, and a massive number of countries in the General Assembly,” he said.
“It is the wrong message to be sending by the Security Council to Israel.
“We will continue knocking on the door of the Security Council, the General Assembly, all components of the United Nations,” he added.
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Hamas
The Palestinian group said the administration of US President Joe Biden’s decision to block Algeria’s draft resolution benefits the agenda of the Israeli occupation, which aims to “kill and displace” Palestinians.
“President Joe Biden and his administration bear direct responsibility for derailing the resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza,” Hamas said in a statement. “The American position is considered a green light for the occupation to commit more massacres and kill our innocent people through bombing and starvation.”
Palestinian Authority
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the US veto defied the international community and gave Israel “an additional green light for the Israeli occupation to continue its aggression against the people of Gaza and to launch a bloody assault against Rafah”.
The Palestinian presidency also said that it holds the US administration responsible for “supporting and providing protection” to Israel’s “barbaric attacks” against children, women and the elderly in Gaza.
“This policy makes the United States a partner in the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing and the war crimes Israeli forces are committing,” the office said.
Qatar
Qatar’s UN Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani said she regretted the UNSC’s failure to adopt the Algeria-drafted resolution and pledged to continue facilitating efforts to secure a truce in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry expressed “regret” at the veto and stressed the “need now more than ever to reform the Security Council to carry out its responsibilities in maintaining peace and security with credibility and without double standards”.
#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s regret over the veto of the draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the #Gaza Strip and its surroundings, which Algeria submitted to the Security Council on behalf of the Arab countries. pic.twitter.com/6S0COWbERD
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) February 20, 2024
Norway
Norway’s mission to the UN said it “regrets” that the council was not able to adopt a resolution on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
“It is imperative to end the horror in Gaza,” it added.
Norway regrets that the #UNSC yet again was unable to adopt a resolution on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in #Gaza.
It is imperative to end the horror in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/9Sh3ntIQty
— NorwayUN (@NorwayUN) February 20, 2024
Cuba
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez blasted the US, saying its veto made it complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.
“The US has just vetoed again the UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the forced displacement of the Palestinian population,” Bermudez said in a social media post. “They are accomplices of this genocide of Israel against Palestine.”
Amnesty International
Agnes Callamard, the director of the human rights group, said that Washington had a chance to protect Palestinian civilians but chose “the opposite path” at the UNSC.
“And yet again… when the US could do the right thing: protect Palestinians against serious risks of genocide; respect international law and universality; prevent massive killings and sufferings – it chose the opposite path,” Callamard said.
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
CAIR director Nihad Awad said Muslim Americans were “running out of words” to condemn Biden’s support for the “genocide” in Gaza.
“The latest US veto of a UN ceasefire resolution is shameful. President Biden should stop acting like Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense lawyer and start acting like the President of the United States,” Awad said in a statement.
“We call on the American people to continue expressing their opposition to the Biden administration’s support for the Israeli government’s war crimes by contacting the White House and their elected officials and calling on them to demand a ceasefire, access to humanitarian aid, and the pursuit of a just, lasting peace.”
Western leaders rally around Kyiv to mark 2 years since Russia's full-scale invasion
- US Presid
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed Western leaders to Kyiv Saturday to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and foreign aid hangs in the balance.
Allies from the EU and the Group of Seven wealthy democracies rallied around Kyiv to express solidarity, with Zelenskyy joining a virtual G7 meeting Saturday and four world leaders traveling to Ukraine's war-weary capital.
"Two years ago, here, we met enemy landing forces with fire; two years later, we meet our friends and our partners here," Zelenskyy said as he met the dignitaries at Hostomel airfield just outside of Kyiv, which Russian paratroopers unsuccessfully tried to seize in the first days of the war.
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A somber mood hangs over Ukraine as the war against Russia enters its third year and Kyiv's troops face mounting challenges on the frontline amid dwindling supplies and personnel challenges.
Its troops recently withdrew from the strategic eastern city of Avdiivka, handing Moscow one of its biggest victories. And Russia still controls roughly a quarter of the country after Ukraine failed to make any major breakthroughs with its summertime counteroffensive.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv shortly after a Russian drone attack struck a residential building in the southern city of Odesa, killing at least one person.
Three women also sustained severe burns in the attack Friday evening, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper wrote on his social media account. Rescue services combed through the rubble looking for survivors.
Hours later, Zelenskyy's office announced the signing of 10-year bilateral security deals with Canada and Italy, with Ottawa committing to send Kyiv Canadian $3 billion in military and economic aid this year while Rome promised much-needed long-range weapons.
In a joint press conference, Meloni hailed the agreement with Kyiv and said, "We will continue to support Ukraine in what I have always deemed the just right of its people to defend itself."
"Confusing the much-bandied about word 'peace' with 'surrender,' as some people do, is a hypocritical approach that we will never share," she said.
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Meloni also chaired a G7 videoconference from Kyiv that produced a joint statement Saturday reaffirming world leaders' commitment to "supporting a comprehensive, just and lasting peace," tightening sanctions on Russia and sending Ukraine military and economic aid for "as long as it takes."
Von der Leyen vowed during the joint press conference that the bloc will stand with Ukraine "financially, economically, militarily, and most of all, morally, until (the) country is finally free."
At the press conference, Zelenskyy highlighted the urgency of timely arms deliveries, while pledging that Kyiv would not use weapons from allied countries to strike Russian territory. His words reflected an increasingly tense battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv's troops are trying to hold back Russian advances despite a escalating ammunition shortage.
On the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian soldiers pleaded for shells.
"When the enemy comes in, a lot of our guys die. We are sitting here with nothing," Volodymyr, 27, a senior officer in an artillery battery, said.
"In order to protect our infantry we need a high number of shells, which we do not have now," Oleksandr, 45, a commander of an artillery unit, said The two officers gave only their first names, citing security concerns.
About 100 people gathered outside St. Sophia's Cathedral in central Kyiv yesterday, calling for the release of Azov Brigade members who were taken captive by Russia after defending the southern city of Mariupol.
Olena Petrivna, the mother of a member taken by Russian forces questioned why Russia invaded Ukraine, saying that before the war people "lived our own lives, not bothering anyone, raising our children".
The Russians, she said, tried to conquer Ukraine to teach them what to say and what language to speak but, she added, "We don't need them. We have one destiny – victory. We must win."
The war has also come to Russia. Drones hit a steel plant in the Lipetsk region in southern Russia Saturday, causing a large fire, regional Gov. Igor Artamonov said, adding there are no casualties. Independent Russian media said the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant is the largest steel plant in Russia. Videos shared on Russian social media showed several fires burning at the plant, and an explosion could be heard.
Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona said Saturday that about 75,000 Russian men died in 2022 and 2023 fighting in the war.
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A joint investigation published by Mediazona and Meduza, another independent Russian news site, indicates that the rate of Russia's losses in Ukraine is not slowing and that Moscow is losing about 120 men a day. Based on a statistical analysis of the recorded deaths of soldiers compared with a Russian inheritance database, the journalists said about 83,000 soldiers are likely to have died in the two years of fighting.
Solidarity demonstrations with Ukraine were held across Europe, including in London, Berlin and Stockholm.
In Belgrade, hundreds marched through the city center carrying Ukrainian flags. Though it has condemned the invasion of Ukraine, Serbia has not joined Western sanctions against Russia and maintains friendly relations with Moscow.
Despite a heavy crackdown on dissent, some Russians marked the anniversary by laying flowers at Moscow monuments or staging one-person protests.
According to OVD-Info, a Russian rights group that tracks political arrests and provides legal aid, at least six people were detained across Russia yesterday for holding up anti-war signs, bearing flowers in Ukraine's national colours or otherwise expressing support for Kyiv. Four more were arrested in Moscow at a demonstration calling for the return of mobilised Russian soldiers from Ukraine."
Meanwhile, millions of Ukrainians continue to live in precarious circumstances, and many others face constant struggles under Russian occupation. Most are waiting for a Ukrainian liberation that hasn't come.
Olena Zelenska, the president's wife, said Saturday that more than two million Ukrainian children have left the country since the war began and that at least 528 have been killed. "The war started by Russia deliberately targets children," she said.
Britain has pledged an additional 8.5 million pounds of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, bolstering efforts to provide medical care, food and basic services to residents.
About 14.6 million people, or 40 per cent of Ukraine's population, need assistance, with many left homeless or without adequate access to food, water and electricity, Britain's Foreign Office said in announcing the aid.
In the US Congress, Republicans have stalled $60 billion in military aid for Kyiv, desperately needed in the short term. The EU recently approved a 50 billion-euro aid package for Ukraine meant to support Ukraine's economy, despite resistance from Hungary.
Century-old mystery of lost ship solved by accidental discovery
The 120-year-old mystery of the lost SS Nemesis has been solved with the accidental discovery of the missing ship in waters south of Sydney.
The 73-metre-long vessel departed Newcastle on July 9 in 1904, with 32 crew members and loaded with coal destined for Melbourne.
It was last seen in distress in rough seas off Wollongong by another ship also caught in the storm.
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In the weeks that came, bodies of crew members and fragments of the ship washed ashore at Cronulla Beach but the vessel was never found - until now.
The NSW government today announced remote sensing company Subsea Professional Marine Services stumbled across the wreck in 2022 while trying to locate cargo containers lost off the coast of Sydney.
The ship was found undisturbed about 26 kilometres off Port Kembla in Wollongong and approximately 160 metres underwater.
Heritage experts immediately suspected it was the SS Nemesis but were unable to confirm its identity until further underwater imagery was captured by CSIRO.
That vision also revealed why the ship sank that night. It is believed the engine became overwhelmed in the storm and went down quickly once it was hit by a large wave.
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Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe said the loss of Nemesis was "one of Sydney's most enduring maritime mysteries".
"Around 40 children lost their parents in this wreck and I hope this discovery brings closure to families and friends connected to the ship who have never known its fate," she said.
Member for Wollongong Paul Scully said the wreck was part of the maritime history of the Illawarra and even influenced foreign policy during World War II.
"With only 105 of the more than 200 shipwrecks off the NSW coast having been discovered this is an important find," he said.
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The state government is now hoping to connect with the relatives of the crew members, including three men buried in an unmarked grave in Woronora Memorial Park at Sutherland.
The crew were from Australia and the UK, with one from Canada.
Those with a connection to SS Nemesis are asked to contact Heritage NSW at heritagemailbox@environment.nsw.gov.au.
