US vetoes Gaza ceasefire resolution at UN Security Council, saying it emboldens Hamas
The United States vetoed Wednesday a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington claimed undermined ongoing diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
It was the 15-member body's first vote on the situation since November, when the United States – a key Israeli ally – also blocked a text calling for an end to fighting.
"This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground and emboldens Hamas," Washington's United Nations envoy Dorothy Shea said ahead of the vote.
"This resolution also draws false equivalence between Israel and Hamas," she said.
The draft resolution had demanded "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties."
It also called for the "immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups."
Underlining a "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian territory, the resolution, had it passed, would have demanded the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The veto was the first wielded by Washington since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
Israel has faced growing international pressure to end its war in Gaza, which was triggered by the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.
That scrutiny has increased over flailing aid distribution in Gaza, which Israel blocked for more than two months before allowing a small number of UN vehicles to enter in mid-May.
The United Nations said that was not enough to meet the humanitarian needs.
'Judged by history'
A US-backed relief effort called the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) has also faced criticism for going against long-standing humanitarian principles by coordinating relief efforts with a military belligerent.
Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed at least 16 people in the Gaza Strip, including 12 in a single strike on a tent housing displaced people, the Palestinian territory's civil defense agency told AFP.
On Tuesday, 27 people were killed in southern Gaza when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF aid site, with the military saying the incident was under investigation.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, on Tuesday urged the Council to act.
"All of us will be judged by history as to how much have we done in order to stop this crime against the Palestinian people," he said.
Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon attacked the text ahead of the vote.
"This resolution doesn't advance humanitarian relief. It undermines it. It ignores a working system in favor of political agendas," he was to tell the council, according to remarks released by his office.
"It ignores the one party still endangering civilians in Gaza: Hamas."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local France
24 minutes ago
- Local France
French grandmother files legal complaint over Gaza 'genocide'
Jacqueline Rivault filed her complaint with the "crimes against humanity" hub of the Court of Paris, lawyer Arie Alimi said. Rivault hopes the fact her daughter's children, aged six and nine, were French nationals means the country's judiciary will decide it has jurisdiction to designate a magistrate to investigate the allegations. French courts have quite wide-raging powers to investigate alleged crimes outside of France, including in cases where a French national is involved. READ ALSO What jurisdiction do French courts have over crimes outside France Rights groups, lawyers and some Israeli historians have described the Gaza war as "genocide" and called for a ceasefire. Israel, created in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II, vehemently rejects the term. Advertisement The complaint states that "two F16 missiles fired by the Israeli army" killed Janna, six, and Abderrahim Abudaher, nine, in northern Gaza on October 24th, 2023. They and their family had sought refuge in another home "between Faluja and Beit Lahia" after leaving their own two days earlier due to heavy bombardment, the 48-page document stated. One missile entered "through the roof and the second directly into the room where the family was", it said. Abderrahim was killed instantly, while his sister Janna died shortly after being taken to hospital. The complaint argues the "genocide" allegation is based on the air strike being part of a larger Israeli project to "eliminate the Palestinian population and submit it to living conditions of a nature to entail the destruction of their group". The children's brother Omar was severely wounded but still lives in Gaza with their mother, identified as Yasmine Z., the complaint added. A French court in 2019 convicted Yasmine Z. in absentia of having funded a "terrorist" group over distributing money in Gaza to members of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead. Advertisement Israel's retaliatory offensive in Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable. No court has so far ruled the ongoing conflict is a genocide. But in rulings in January, March and May 2024, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest judicial organ, told Israel to do everything possible to "prevent" acts of genocide during its military operations in Gaza.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Israel warns of more Lebanon strikes if Hezbollah not disarmed
An Israeli military evacuation call issued ahead of Thursday's strikes sent huge numbers of residents of the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, long a bastion of Iran-backed Hezbollah, fleeing for their lives. The attack on what the Israeli military said was Hezbollah's underground drone factories came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, one of the main religious festivals of the Muslim calendar. The strikes came around an hour after Israel's military spokesman issued an evacuation call, and sent plumes of smoke billowing over Beirut. The attack came six months after a ceasefire agreement was sealed in a bid to end hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. "There will be no calm in Beirut, and no order or stability in Lebanon, without security for the State of Israel," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. "Agreements must be honoured and if you do not do what is required, we will continue to act, and with great force." Under the ceasefire brokered by the United States and France, Lebanon committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was once reputed to be more heavily armed than the state itself. Hezbollah sparked months of deadly hostilities by launching cross-border attacks on northern Israel in what it described as an act of solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack. The war left Hezbollah massively weakened, with a string of top commanders including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah killed and weapons caches dotted around Lebanon incinerated. Israel has carried out repeated strikes on south Lebanon since the truce, but strikes targeting Beirut's southern suburbs have been rare. "Following Hezbollah's extensive use of UAVs as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the State of Israel, the terrorist organisation is operating to increase production of UAVs for the next war," the military said, calling the activities "a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon". Ominous warning Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south. Israel was to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon but it has kept some in five areas it deems "strategic". The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying Thursday that it had dismantled "more than 500 military positions and arms depots" in the area. Following the strike on Thursday, Lebanon's leaders accused Israel of a "flagrant" ceasefire violation by launching strikes ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. President Joseph Aoun voiced "firm condemnation of the Israeli aggression" and "flagrant violation of an international accord... on the eve of a sacred religious festival". The prime minister too issued a statement condemning the strikes as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty. One resident of southern Beirut described grabbing her children and fleeing her home after receiving an ominous warning before the strikes. "I got a phone call from a stranger who said he was from the Israeli army," said the woman, Violette, who declined to give her last name. Israel also issued an evacuation warning for the Lebanese village of Ain Qana, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border. The Israeli military then launched a strike on a building there that it alleged was a Hezbollah base, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency. © 2025 AFP
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
At least four killed in Kyiv in Russian missile and drone attacks
An overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv has killed at least four people and injured 20 others, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as air raid sirens rang out during a wider combined attack across Ukraine. Klitschko said search and rescue operations were underway at several locations. Multiple explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defence systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration. 'Our air defence crews are doing everything possible. But we must protect one another — stay safe,' Tkachenko wrote on Telegram. Authorities reported damage in several districts, and rescue workers were responding at multiple locations. They urged residents to seek shelter. In Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story residential building. Emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment, and rescue operations were ongoing. Another fire broke out in a metal warehouse. Tkachenko said the metro tracks between two stations in Kyiv were damaged in the attack, but no fire or injuries occurred. In northern Chernihiv region, a Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building, shattering windows and doors, according to regional military administration chief Dmytro Bryzhynskyi. He added that explosions from ballistic missiles were also recorded on the outskirts of the city. The nighttime attack came hours after US President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, in comments that were a remarkable detour from Trump's often-stated appeals to stop the three-year war. Trump spoke as he met with Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who appealed to him as the 'key person in the world' who could halt the bloodshed by pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has also spoken on the phone with Putin, who vowed to retaliate for Ukraine's stunning drone attacks on Russian military airfields on Sunday. US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the more than 3-year-long war have delivered no significant progress, and the grinding war of attrition has continued unabated. In February 2024, 23-year-old pregnant mother Teodora Marcu was shot dead in front of her three-year old daughter and other children on a street in Romania by her ex-partner. The killer, 49-year-old Robert Lupu, had a documented history of abuse: Marcu had filed multiple complaints against him. She died on the sidewalk, alone and unheard, although she had 'screamed' about the problem in vain for months. Marcu's story is not an exception—it is a brutal reminder of a crisis that knows no borders. Across Europe, domestic violence continues to claim lives and ruin futures. Despite years of awareness campaigns, legislative efforts, and protest movements, recent data show that domestic violence remains stubbornly pervasive - and in some countries, it's getting worse and cases – much more brutal. In Germany, new figures released in June 2024 by the Federal Criminal Police Office mark a disturbing high: 256,276 people were victims of domestic violence last year, a 6.5% increase from 2022. Of those, 70.5% were women, and in cases of intimate partner violence, nearly four out of five victims were female. Most chillingly: 155 women were killed by their current or former partners in 2023. Despite Germany's strong legal frameworks, the data signal systemic failure. 'The rising numbers mean more women are stepping forward,' said a spokesperson from a Berlin-based crisis centre. 'But it also means we're not stopping the violence. We're only counting it.' In Greece, police data for 2023 show the number of domestic violence incidents remained nearly unchanged from 2022—but still double the figure recorded in 2020. Of the 9,886 women who contacted police, the vast majority were in relationships with their abuser. 59.6% of incidents occurred within romantic partnerships, 29.7% of perpetrators were spouses, and 13.8% were live-in partners. Greece also saw 12 femicides, most committed by a male family member. A digital 'panic button' app was rolled out in 2023 to help women discreetly alert police during violent episodes. In 2024, the app was expanded nationwide and opened to male victims. Whether police response times and follow-through match the urgency remains an open question. In Portugal, domestic violence is also on the rise, at least in terms of awareness. From 2021 to 2024, the number of victims seeking help from the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV) jumped by 29.3%, totalling 43,110 cases. Experts attribute the increase to greater media coverage of violence—particularly war and conflict—and the lingering effects of pandemic lockdowns, which intensified domestic tensions and isolated victims. 'People are more aware of abuse now,' an APAV counsellor explained. 'But there's still a long way to go before they feel fully protected.' Spain presents a complex picture. In 2024, 34,684 women were registered as victims of domestic or gender-based violence—a 5.2% decrease from the previous year. Yet paradoxically, the number of convicted abusers surged to 39,056, the highest figure since 2015. Relationships between victims and abusers were varied: 39.9% were partners or ex-partners, 37.8% were (ex-)girlfriends, 21.4% were (ex-)spouses. Spain's specialized gender violence courts and longstanding advocacy movements may account for the increase in convictions. But activists warn that fewer reported cases do not necessarily mean less violence—just fewer women speaking up. In Bulgaria, domestic violence remains an underreported and poorly addressed issue. A 2023 case shocked the nation when an 18-year-old woman named Débora was stabbed with a razor blade by her ex-boyfriend. She survived, but ended up with 400 stitches and her long hair was shaved. The case triggered mass protests and renewed calls for legislative reform. Bulgaria's laws have long excluded protections for victims not living with their abuser, and twelve of the country's regions lack any crisis shelter. Activists point to the country's failure to ratify the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty designed to combat violence against women, as a root cause of systemic neglect. 'The laws are written for a version of abuse that barely reflects real life,' said one protester in Sofia. 'We are burying women every year while politicians debate definitions.' Despite differing legal frameworks and public responses, the through-line is clear: domestic violence in Europe remains a persistent, deadly epidemic. While awareness and reporting are improving in some nations, gaps in law enforcement, legal protections, and survivor support continue to put lives at risk. Debora from Bulgaria is 'lucky' because she's alive. But for two years now she has been forced to face her violator in court, as the case is not yet closed. He was even released for a while, before being rearrested. Teodora Marcu from Romania is dead. And while there are still protests, dozens of women and men are still being abused by their partners on a daily basis. Some prefer to remain silent, others shout about it, yet some continue to end up as victims.
