The United States vetoed for the sixth time this Thursday a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The other 14 members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, which called for opening access to humanitarian aid and halting the genocide perpetrated by Israel, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.

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The emergency proposal comes amid the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza City, which is forcing some 300,000 people into forced displacement to areas “on the verge of collapse” due to famine, the destruction of medical facilities, unsanitary conditions, and overcrowding in the camps.

In this regard, the text expressed “grave concern” about the expansion of the military operation in Gaza, which is exacerbating the suffering of the civilian population.

The United States, for its part, maintained its unrestricted support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, validated during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Tel Aviv amid outrage over Israeli attacks on negotiators from the Islamic resistance movement Hamas who were in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

At the end of August, representatives from Algeria, Denmark, Slovenia, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Somalia, non-permanent members of the Security Council, began discussions on the current draft resolution in response to the official UN-backed declaration of famine in Gaza province.

Security Council members, except for the United States, called for the offensive to be “immediately reversed” and rejected any attempt to effect demographic or territorial changes in the devastated Palestinian enclave.

The draft resolution of the Security Council, the only binding body of the United Nations, condemned Israel for starving the civilian population as a method of warfare. He also warned of the risk of famine spreading to the provinces of Deir El-Balah and Khan Yunis by the end of September.

After the vote, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour condemned the blocking of the draft resolution, preventing the Security Council from playing “its proper role in the face of these atrocities and protecting civilians from genocide.”

“Just as humanity succeeded in ending apartheid, humanity will succeed in ending this illegal occupation, and Palestine will be free. And the two-state solution will become a reality,” declared the Palestinian representative.

On September 16, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council, demonstrated in Geneva that Israel has committed “acts amounting to genocide” against the Gaza civilian population.

More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed and 165,697 injured since October 2023. Of these, 432 have died of starvation, including 146 children.

Countries such as France, Canada, Australia, Malta, and the United Kingdom announced they will recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, while Finland, Portugal, and New Zealand are also considering this possibility.

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