US Vetoes Ceasefire, Again
The United States has once again exercised its veto power at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), blocking a resolution that called for an 'immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire' in Gaza.
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by all ten elected non-permanent members—Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia— received overwhelming support. All 14 other members of the Security Council, including permanent members Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom, voted in favor.
In addition to demanding an immediate ceasefire, the resolution called for the 'immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale, including by the UN and humanitarian partners.'
Despite routinely citing Israeli captives in Gaza as justification for its unwavering support of Israel, the US chose once again to forgo a genuine opportunity to 'bring them home' as the resolution explicitly supported the release of all Israeli captives.
Following the vote, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement doubling down on America's support for Israel, describing the resolution as 'counterproductive' and cynically reframing the situation as 'Gaza targeting Israel'— a grotesque distortion more than 20 months into a livestreamed genocide.
'Today, the United States sent a strong message by vetoing a counterproductive UN Security Council resolution on Gaza targeting Israel,' Rubio stated, in a transparent attempt to rationalize the war crime of collective punishment Israel has imposed on over two million Palestinians in Gaza.
He went went to offer further rhetorical cover for Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign, stressing: 'We will not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas, does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza, draws a false equivalence between Israel and Hamas, or disregards Israel's right to defend itself.'
Keen on carrying out its ethnic cleansing campaign, Israel swiftly applauded the US veto. 'We thank President Donald Trump and the U.S. administration for standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel and vetoing this one-sided resolution in the UN Security Council,' said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
Veto hall of shame
On this occasion, it was US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea who delivered the latest death sentence for thousands of Palestinians. She now joins Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Robert A. Wood on the growing list of US officials who, on five occasions since October 2023, have blocked Gaza's right to exist.
Calling the draft resolution 'unacceptable,' Shea argued that 'US opposition to this resolution should come as no surprise—it is unacceptable for what it does say, it is unacceptable for what it does not say, and it is unacceptable for the manner in which it has been advanced.'
Shea falsely accused Hamas of rejecting recent ceasefire deals, including one discussed over the weekend. It has been widely reported that Hamas did agree to a 60-day truce, which would include the release of up to ten living captives and 18 bodies. In exchange, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) would have to withdraw to positions held prior to the March ceasefire collapse.
But Israel rejected the deal because such an outcome would undermine its ongoing colonization of Gaza. 'We are not leaving areas we've conquered,' said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich about this ceasefire proposal.
Genocide renewed
Earlier in January, Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire aimed at halting the genocide in Gaza, which at that point had already raged for more than 15 months. The agreement outlined a three-phase roadmap. In the first phase, a six-week cessation of military operations would see the IOF withdraw from densely populated areas and redeploy to border positions.
As part of the same deal, Hamas agreed to release 33 Israeli captives—including women, children, and elderly men—in exchange for the release of roughly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The agreement also required the daily entry of 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid, including 50 fuel trucks, half of which were designated for northern Gaza. The subsequent phases called for the release of all remaining captives, a full IOF withdrawal from Gaza, and the launch of a multi-year reconstruction effort.
Despite the initial implementation of the ceasefire, Israel refused to fully withdraw from Gaza as stipulated in the agreement. After committing nearly 1,000 documented ceasefire violations, Israel resumed its large-scale assault on Gaza on March 18—reigniting its campaign of mass slaughter and destruction.
The US-induced collapse of this latest UN resolution comes as Gaza endures nearly 100 days under an almost total blockade on humanitarian aid, all while relentless Israeli bombings — using US-made and sponsored weapons — continue on a besieged population deliberately starved into the brink of extinction.
Few images capture the scale of global depravity more clearly than that of a starving child in Gaza. Meanwhile, Western powers, from a safe distance, continue to presume the authority to decide who is worthy of life and who may be bombed into oblivion.
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