The United States vetoed Friday a Kuwaiti-backed UN draft resolution calling for protective measures for the Palestinians that won backing from 10 countries at the Security Council. A US resolution condemning Palestinian resistance group, Hamas also failed.
China, France and Russia were among the countries that voted in favor of the draft put forward by Kuwait on behalf of Arab countries. Four countries, Ethiopia, the UK, the Netherlands and Poland abstained.
A draft resolution requires nine votes to be adopted in the 15-member council and no veto from the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council the measure was “wildly inaccurate in its characterization of recent events in Gaza” by condemning Tel Aviv for the violence.
The Kuwait-drafted text had called for “measures to guarantee the safety and protection” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and requested a UN report to propose an “international protection mechanism.”
The US, meanwhile, brought its own text to the council: A proposal that would condemn Hamas over the escalation of violence in Gaza in the last two months.
The United States was the only country that voted in favor of the draft resolution in the Security Council. Eleven countries abstained while Bolivia, Kuwait and Russia opposed it.
At least 120 Palestinians have been martyred and hundreds others have been injured along Gaza border during “March of Return” protests in the last weeks.
On Friday (June 1), a Palestinian female paramedic was martyred and dozens others were injured in the tenth “March of Return”.
The event has been marked by thousands of Palestinians during the last weeks, in a bid to demonstrate their right to return to their land occupied by the Israeli occupation since 1948.
Source: Agencies
