Palestinians slam U.S. veto of UN Security Council resolution for ceasefire in Gaza

This photo released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Dec. 10, 2023 shows Israeli troops conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip. (Xinhua)

RAMALLAH/GAZA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Authority and Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) slammed on Saturday the U.S. veto on a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The resolution failed to pass at a Security Council emergency meeting held late Friday after the United States cast a veto and Britain abstained, while the other 13 UNSC members voted in favor of the proposal handed in by the UAE and backed by more than 90 UN member states.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced on Saturday the U.S. position as "aggressive and immoral, and a blatant violation of all humanitarian values and principles," while thanking those member states that favor the resolution for "siding with justice, peace and human ethics."

In a statement, he said the move made the United States complicit with "war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem."

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said in a statement on Saturday that the veto was "a disgrace and a new license for the occupying state to continue killing, destroying and displacing."

The veto "reveals the lie of concern for the lives of civilians, and that what happened is an insult to the free people of the world and a violation of the values of truth, justice, freedom, human rights, and all countries calling for human rights," he noted.

Shtayyeh called on UN members to continue their efforts to stop the Israeli "aggression" and bring in food, medicine and fuel aid and restore the lifeline to the Gaza Strip that has been cut off for more than two months.

The Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction, Hamas, which Israel has announced at war with, described the U.S. administration as an "accomplice in the killing of the Palestinian people, through its political and military support for Israel."

The movement thanked the countries that voted in favor of the draft resolution, calling on the international community to take serious and concrete steps to "stop the occupation's massacres" in Gaza.

This comes as the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Saturday that more than 70 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks during the last hours.

The ministry said in a brief statement that the aforementioned number of dead, along with more than 160 injured, were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip.

Since Oct. 7, Israel has been launching massive airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas surprise attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 and in which over 200 were taken hostage.

This photo released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Dec. 10, 2023 shows Israeli troops conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip. (Xinhua)

This photo released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Dec. 10, 2023 shows Israeli troops conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip. (Xinhua)