By Li Jiawei

The US government recently authorized the supply of bombs and fighter jets worth billions of dollars to Israel. Not long ago, the United Nations Security Council passed the first resolution explicitly calling for an immediate ceasefire since the outbreak of this round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. A total of 14 UN Security Council members voted in favor of the draft resolution, with the US abstaining from the vote. The abstention vote was worthy of recognition, but its positive significance was offset by a series of words and deeds by the US. The US's contradictory behavior of pretending to "do good" but in essence "do harm" has once again made the international community see clearly its hypocrisy.

Since the outbreak of the latest round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip have caused a dire humanitarian disaster. The international community has universally called for an immediate ceasefire to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Faced with significant moral scrutiny and public pressure, the US has occasionally warned and criticized Israel for its "excessive" actions, airdropped relief supplies to Gaza, built a temporary dock along the Mediterranean coast for transporting aid, and openly expressed "understanding" for the "pain" felt by many Arab-Americans regarding US support for Israel.

A senior researcher at the US Foreign Policy Research Institute pointed out that US "goodwill" is merely a clumsy and hypocritical compromise dictated by the current situation, with no fundamental change in its policy towards Israel.

In fact, as an ally of Israel and its largest military aid donor, the US has long been "tilting the scales" on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Following the outbreak of the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the US has stood by Israel and continued to provide military assistance to Israel. The US has also exercised its veto power several times in the UN Security Council to block resolutions related to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Although the US abstained from voting in the Security Council this time and showed a "positive stance" to alleviate domestic and international criticism, analysts believe that the true attitude of the US is reflected in its tangible support for Israel with weapons. While the US airdrops very limited relief supplies to the Gaza Strip, it also ships hundreds of tons of ammunition to Israel, as described by Palestinians in Gaza, "US bombs fall from the sky, with a few slices of bread in between."

We need a ceasefire, not "fanning the flames." Since the outbreak of the conflict, the international community has strongly called for a ceasefire, and diplomatic mediation has been underway. However, due to Israel's hardline stance and the biased support from its main supporter, the US, the ceasefire process has been difficult and has exacerbated regional tensions. As Gaza is still mired in a serious humanitarian disaster, the US should take up its due responsibility and, along with the majority of the international community, truly support the role of the UN Security Council in easing tensions, rebuilding trust, and seeking political solutions.

(The author is from the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China.)