UN Security Council meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York on December 8, 2023. (Photo/Xinhua)

By Zhu Ruiqing and Song Ying

The US, as a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, vetoed a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during an emergency meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli situation.

Analysts pointed out that the ceasefire has currently become the prevailing voice of the international community. However, the US, known for consistently bringing up human rights issues, repeatedly thwarted the UN Security Council from passing a draft resolution pleading for a halt to the conflict in Gaza, and even persistently provided arms aid to Israel to aggravate the conflict. The entire society is witnessing who is playing with the double standard on the human rights issue.

Irresponsible veto

The UN Security Council requested on October 8 to vote on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The draft was submitted by the UAE and backed by nearly 100 countries. The voting result showed that 13 out of 15 member states of the Security Council favored the resolution, the UK abstained from voting, and only the US cut a ticket, asserting the draft was "divorced from reality".

While often bragging about itself as a human rights defender and accusing other countries of violating human rights, the US virtually opposed this draft resolution designed to protect the subsistence rights of the population of the Gaza Strip. In a statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has described the American position as aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values. The United States should be responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip.

The sponsor of the draft, the UAE, expressed deep disappointment at the US veto, stressing that the voting result will not deter the UAE from continuing to urge Security Council members to act to bring an early end to the violence in Gaza.

The Security Council is facing obstacles to decisive actions largely because the US had vetoed multiple draft resolutions. In October, the country denied a widely anticipated draft resolution presented by Brazil, along with one authored by Russia on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Continuous military aid

Since the outbreak of the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the US has been consistently providing direct military support to Israel. US President Joe Biden underlined that the administration's support for Israel's security is "rock solid and unwavering". The US military had not only delivered a large quantity of aviation bombs and cannons to the Israeli side, but also sent aircraft carrier strike groups, deployed the THAAD missile defense system, and additionally dispatched a Patriot air defense missile battalion to the Middle East to root for Israel.

Josh Paul, who previously took charge of arms transfer affairs in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, resigned after the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, complaining that the administration had continuously increased military aid to Israel without scrutiny. He indicated in an interview with reporters that the combination of the US vetoing the ceasefire resolution and at the same time accelerating the delivery of lethal weapons to Israel casts doubts about the sincerity of the US demand to reduce civilian casualties in Israeli operations.

American politicians' energetic support for Israel is largely motivated by political electoral considerations. However, with the continuous escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the US actions that stoke the fire rather than extinguishing it will eventually encounter a backlash.