Amid rising Israel-Palestine tensions, U.S. blocks UN statement for third time in one week

Rescuers help a man trapped in rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, May 16, 2021. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

While U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone conversation that he expected "a significant de-escalation" of the violence in Gaza, the United States has reportedly approved a 735 million-U.S.-dollar deal of precision-guided weapons to Israel, a move widely seen as "adding fuel to the fire" ravaging the Gaza Strip.

NEW YORK, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States blocked Sunday a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, leaving three United Nations Security Council emergency meetings over the past few days with no concrete results in de-escalating the violence, according to media reports.

The move came after the United States last week twice blocked United Nations (UN) resolutions that would urge de-escalation amid the rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions, which have caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

Palestinian people who fled their homes due to Israeli air and artillery strikes, take refuge at a school in Gaza City, on May 14, 2021. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

The UN's casualty count from hostilities in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel on Wednesday showed that 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, were killed in Gaza. In the West Bank, 25 Palestinian deaths were tallied, including four children. Israeli sources reported 12 people killed, including two children and a soldier. Thousands of people were injured, mainly in the West Bank and in Gaza.

While U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone conversation that he expected "a significant de-escalation" of the violence in Gaza, the United States has reportedly approved a 735 million-U.S.-dollar deal of precision-guided weapons to Israel, a move widely seen as "adding fuel to the fire" ravaging the Gaza Strip.

Photo taken on May 14, 2021 shows explosions following Israeli air strikes in Gaza City. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

The move was condemned by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who on Tuesday criticized the United States for selling advanced weapons to Israel amid the flared-up of the conflict, saying that the United States sold Israel "precision" missiles to "kill more children with more precision."

Speaking with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated that the UN exerts every possible effort for reaching a ceasefire.

Guterres also said that the UN will continue its contacts with the International Quartet for peace in the Middle East to work on a political track that leads to a just and comprehensive peace under international law.

Photo taken on May 16, 2021 shows rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

Executive Director Henrietta Fore of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is calling for an immediate ceasefire and aid access to stave off disaster in the Middle East, according to UN News Wednesday.

"Gaza's 1 million children are reeling from the mounting consequences of violent conflict with nowhere safe to turn. Lives have been lost and families shattered," she said.

Concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and mounting hostilities in the Palestine-Israel conflict, the European Union (EU) has urged "the immediate cessation of all violence and implementation of a ceasefire."

"Security for Israel and Palestine requires a true political solution," said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at a Tuesday meeting.