The United Nations Security Council, at its fourth meeting on Israel-Palestine conflict, has again failed to reach consensus on a joint statement calling for a ceasefire, reports said the United States told the group that such a statement would not help calm the situation.
The Biden administration has been criticized for its unwavering support for Israel, which has carried out intense airstrikes in Gaza killing at least 219 Palestinians, including 63 children. In Israel, at least 12 people, including two children, have been killed in rockets fired from Gaza.
Tuesday’s meeting came after the U.S. three times blocked a joint statement on violence, with American envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield seemingly aborting the prospect that a consensus would soon be reached.
“As for subsequent actions by the Security Council, we need to assess whether any particular action or statement will advance the chances of ending the violence,” he said at the private meeting. “We don’t judge a public statement at this time to help de-escalate.”
Thomas-Greenfield added that the US is trying to calm the situation through its own diplomatic channels, including a US envoy deployed to Israel.
As one of the five permanent board members, the U.S. has the ability to block joint statements and resolutions.
Despite US resistance, France said on Tuesday that the UN Security Council was the right forum to boost the ceasefire.
“The UN Security Council must take up the issue and we have also called for a resolution on the issue,” the French presidency said after talks between Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the king of Jordan Abdullah.
France said it had proposed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in coordination with residents of Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
Zhang Jun, Beijing’s ambassador to the UN, told reporters that his team had heard the French ceasefire proposal and that China was “supportive.”
Another diplomat told the AFP news agency that the proposal would try to end hostilities, but also “allow humanitarian access.”
“We haven’t kept quiet”
On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden after days of pressure, expressed support for the ceasefire in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he continued to defend Israel’s right to “self-defense.”
Progressives, and more recently the moderate allies of the Biden Democratic Party, had come out in favor of a ceasefire before the president’s announcement.
The Biden administration has come under increasing pressure to take a tougher line against Israel during the ongoing bombing of the besieged Gaza Strip, which has destroyed infrastructure and hundreds of Palestinian homes and what critics say is tantamount to a severe punishment. · Lectiu.
On Tuesday, as the European Union, minus Hungary, also called for a ceasefire.
“Neither have we been silent either,” Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Tuesday.
However, with Egyptian and UN mediators stepping up efforts to calm tensions, there is little evidence that progress has been made.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday in a Twitter message that Israel’s attacks “will continue for as long as calm needs to be restored” for all its citizens.