US vetoes UN resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages

US Alternate Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood the proposed ceasefire text would have emboldened Hamas. (AFP)
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Updated 21 November 2024
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US vetoes UN resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages

  • Resolution put forward by 10 elected, non-permanent members of the council
  • US was the only one of the 15 members not to vote in favor of it 

NEW YORK CITY: The US on Wednesday used the power of veto it holds as one of the five permanent member of the UN Security Council to block a resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”

The resolution was put forward by the 10 elected, non-permanent members of the council. The US was the only one of the 15 members not to vote in favor of it.

The text of the resolution also called for the “safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance at scale” to Gaza, including besieged areas in the north of the territory, and denounced any attempt to deliberately starve the population there.

More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October last year, and the UN says that in excess of 70 percent of the verified deaths were among women and children. More than 130,000 people have been injured. The UN believes these figures to be an underestimate, given that scores of bodies are thought to be buried under the rubble of destroyed or damaged buildings.

The war has also displaced almost the entire population of the enclave, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe.

On Monday, the UN’s Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices presented a report to the General Assembly in which it said the methods of warfare employed by Israel in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a weapon, the mass civilian casualties and the life-threatening conditions deliberately inflicted on Palestinians, are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.

After the Security Council failed to adopt the resolution on Wednesday, Majed Bamya, the Palestinian deputy ambassador to the UN, told its members that they were witnessing an attempt “to annihilate a nation” and yet the “very tools designed to respond (to this are) not being used.”

He added: “Maybe for some we have the wrong nationality, the wrong faith, the wrong skin color, but we are humans and we should be treated as such.

“Is there a UN Charter for Israel that is different from the charter you all have? Is there an international law for them? An international law for us? Do they have the right to kill and the only right we have is to die?

“What more can (Israel) do for this council to act under Chapter 7? Or will this council be the last place on earth that cannot recognize a threat to peace when they see it?”

Chapter 7 of the UN Charter relates to action that can be taken by member states in response to threats to peace and acts of aggression.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told council members: “Today, a shameful attempt to abandon our kidnapped men and women by the UN was prevented. Thanks to the US, we stood firm with our position that there will be no ceasefire without the release of the hostages. We will continue in this struggle until everyone returns home.”

Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador, said that an unconditional ceasefire would mean acceptance by the Security Council of Hamas remaining in power in Gaza.

“The United States will never accept this,” he added. “Rather than adopting a resolution that emboldens Hamas, let’s instead demand Hamas implement Resolution 2735 without further condition or delay.

“Let’s continue to ensure Israel facilitates additional humanitarian aid into Gaza, and let's work to bring a durable end to the suffering and misery of Hamas’ many victims."

Security Council Resolution 2735, which was adopted in June, calls on Hamas to accept a proposed hostage and ceasefire agreement with Israel.

British envoy Barbara Woodward, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the council this month, expressed regret over the failure of the council to adopt the resolution but vowed to “keep striving, alongside our partners, to bring this war to a close.”

She said: “The deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic and unacceptable. All of Gaza is at risk of famine, and in some areas this is likely to be imminent. Yet the aid reaching civilians remains entirely insufficient to mitigate this unfolding disaster.

“The unthinkable hardship that civilians are already facing in Gaza is set to get even worse as winter approaches.”

Woodward urged Israeli authorities to take “urgent action to alleviate this crisis. International humanitarian law must be respected by all sides.”

China’s ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, said that even with the imminent threat of famine in Gaza, “the United States always seems to be able to find a justification to defend Israel.” It is a stance that represents a distortion of international humanitarian law, he added.

“People keep learning something new they never knew before was possible, and how low one can stoop. No wonder people feel angry,” said Fu.

“People’s indignation also stems from the fact that the continued supply of weapons from the US (to Israel) has become a decisive factor in the war lasting so long, causing so many casualties and so much destruction.”

He added: “All hostages must be released. An immediate and unconditional ceasefire must be established. Both are important factors. There should be no conditionality. They cannot be linked to each other because facts have shown that Israel’s military operations in Gaza have long exceeded the scope of rescuing hostages.

“Insistence on setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continuing the war and condoning the continued killing.”

The Algerian ambassador, Amar Bendjama, told the council after the vote: “Today’s message is clear.

“To the Israeli occupying power: You may continue your genocide and collective punishment of the Palestinian people with complete impunity. In this chamber, you enjoy immunity.

“To the Palestinian people: While the majority of the world stands in solidarity with your plight, tragically, others remain indifferent to your suffering.”

Nicolas de Riviere, France’s permanent representative to the UN, lamented the latest failure by the council to help bring an end to the war.

“France voted in favor of this resolution and deeply regrets that the (Security Council) remains unable to speak with one voice on the situation in the Middle East.”

The Russian envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, directly addressed his US counterpart and accused him of being responsible for the deaths “of tens of thousands of innocent civilians (and) the suffering of hostages and illegally detained Palestinians.”

He added: “It was very interesting to hear the American representative today, in the wake of the vote, say that the resolution does not contain provisions on the release of hostages. Well, it does contain such a provision. Perhaps the US representative should read through the resolution before voting against it.”


Hamas says Israeli block on diggers affecting extraction of hostages’ bodies

Updated 08 February 2025
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Hamas says Israeli block on diggers affecting extraction of hostages’ bodies

  • Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of slowing down aid deliveries expected under the Gaza ceasefire
  • Of the 251 hostages Hamas seized in its unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 76 remain in Gaza

GAZA CITY: Hamas on Friday said Israel’s blocking of heavy machinery entering Gaza to clear rubble caused by war was affecting efforts to extract the bodies of hostages.
“Preventing the entry of heavy equipment and machinery needed to remove 55 million tonnes of rubble ... will undoubtedly affect the resistance’s ability to extract from under the rubble the dead prisoners (hostages),” said Salama Marouf, spokesman for Hamas’s media office in Gaza.
Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of slowing down aid deliveries expected under the terms of the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza, including key items such as fuel, tents, and heavy machinery for clearing rubble.

The Israeli government and COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, have rejected the accusation.
Of the 251 hostages Hamas seized in its unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 76 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.
Hamas’ armed wing released the names of three captives it said would be freed on Saturday in a fifth hostage-prisoner swap as part of an ongoing agreement with Israel.
“Within the framework of the Al-Aqsa Flood deal for the prisoner exchange, the (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have decided to release” the three hostages, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed wing, said on Telegram.


Hamas, Israel to begin fifth hostage-prisoner exchange

Updated 33 min 32 sec ago
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Hamas, Israel to begin fifth hostage-prisoner exchange

  • The three men set to be released on Saturday are Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, according to Hamas

JERUSALEM: Hamas is set to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 183 prisoners held by Israel in the fifth exchange of a fragile Gaza ceasefire.

The exchange comes despite uproar in the region over a proposal by US President Donald Trump to clear out the Gaza Strip of its inhabitants and for the United States to take over the Palestinian territory.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed to AFP on Friday it had received a list of hostages for release from Gaza after Hamas published three names of captives to be freed.

The three men set to be released on Saturday are Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, according to Hamas. Their names were confirmed by Netanyahu’s office.

Former hostage Yarden Bibas, who was freed last week by Hamas militants in Gaza, on Friday urged Netanyahu to help bring back his wife and two children from the Palestinian territory.

Palestinians gather around a stage being prepared ahead of the hand over to the Red Cross of three Israeli hostages by Hamas in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on Feb. 8, 2025. (AP)

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, I’m now addressing you with my own words... bring my family back, bring my friends back, bring everyone home,” Bibas said in his first public message following his release.

Hamas previously said his wife Shiri and his two sons Ariel and Kfir – the youngest hostages – were dead, but Israel has not confirmed their deaths.

Netanyahu, who is in Washington, will “monitor this phase of the hostages’ release from the control center of the delegation in the US,” the premier’s office said in a separate statement.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum urged the government on Friday to stick with the Gaza truce, even as Trump’s comments sparked uproar across the Middle East and beyond.

“An entire nation demands to see the hostages return home,” the Israeli campaign group said in a statement.

“Now is the time to ensure the agreement is completed – until the very last one,” it added.

Israel and Hamas have completed four swaps under the first stage of the ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian militants, led by Hamas, have so far freed 18 hostages in exchange for around 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.

The ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims to secure the release of 33 hostages during the first 42-day phase of the agreement.

Negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire were set to begin on Monday, but there have been no details on the status of the talks.

The second stage aims to secure the release of more hostages and pave the way for a permanent end to the war, which began on October 7, 2023 with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel.

During the attack, militants took 251 hostages to Gaza. Seventy-six remain in captivity, including 34 whom the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 47,583 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.


Chemical weapons agency chief to meet Syrian officials in Damascus on Saturday, sources say

Fernando Arias, Director General. (X @OPCW)
Updated 08 February 2025
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Chemical weapons agency chief to meet Syrian officials in Damascus on Saturday, sources say

  • The OPCW has asked the authorities in Syria to secure all relevant locations and safeguard any relevant documentation

DAMASCUS: The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a global non-proliferation agency, will meet Syrian officials in Damascus on Saturday, three sources familiar with the visit told Reuters.
Director General Fernando Arias was expected to meet interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, two of the sources said, in a sign of Syrian willingness to cooperate with the agency after years of strained relations under now-toppled leader Bashar Assad.
The sudden fall of the Assad government in December brought hope that the country could be rid of chemical weapons.
Following a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people in 2013, Syria joined the OPCW under a US-Russian deal and 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons and precursors were destroyed by the international community.
As part of membership, Damascus was supposed to be subjected to inspections. But for more than a decade the OPCW was prevented from uncovering the true scale of the chemical weapons program. Syria’s declared stockpile has never accurately reflected the situation on the ground, inspectors concluded.
When asked about contacts with the OPCW over chemical weapons still in Syria, the country’s new defense minister Murhaf Abu Qasra told Reuters in January that he “does not believe” that any remnants of Syria’s chemical weapons program remained intact.
“Even if there was anything left, it’s been bombed by the Israeli military,” Abu Qasra said, referring to a wave of Israeli strikes across Syria in the wake of Assad’s fall.
Details of the mission to Syria are still being worked out but its key aims will be finding and securing chemical stocks to prevent proliferation risk, identifying those responsible for their use and overseeing the destruction of remaining munitions.
The OPCW has asked the authorities in Syria to secure all relevant locations and safeguard any relevant documentation.
Three investigations — a joint UN-OPCW mechanism, the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification team, and a UN war crimes investigation — concluded that Syrian government forces used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in attacks during the civil war that killed or injured thousands.
A French court issued an arrest warrant for Assad which was upheld on appeal over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians. Syria and its military backer Russia always denied using chemical weapons.
The OPCW, a treaty-based agency in The Hague with 193 member countries, is tasked with implementing the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have neither signed nor acceded to the convention and Israel has signed but not ratified it.

 


US State Department lays out plans for $7 billion-plus arms sale to Israel as Netanyahu visits DC

Updated 08 February 2025
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US State Department lays out plans for $7 billion-plus arms sale to Israel as Netanyahu visits DC

  • In late January, soon after he took office, he lifted the hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel

WASHINGTON: The State Department has formally told Congress that it plans to sell more than $7 billion in weapons to Israel, including thousands of bombs and missiles, just two days after President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
The massive arms sale comes as a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas holds, even as Trump continues to tout his widely criticized proposal to move all Palestinians from Gaza and redevelop it as an international travel destination.
The sale is another step in Trump’s effort to bolster Israel’s weapons stocks. In late January, soon after he took office, he lifted the hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. The Biden administration had paused a shipment of the bombs over concerns about civilian casualties, particularly during an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Trump told reporters that he released them to Israel, “because they bought them.”
According to the State Department, two separate sales were sent to Congress on Friday. One is for $6.75 billion in an array of munitions, guidance kits and other related equipment. It includes 166 small diameter bombs, 2,800 500-pound bombs, and thousands of guidance kits, fuzes and other bomb components and support equipment. Those deliveries would begin this year.
The other arms package is for 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $660 million. Deliveries of the missiles are expected to begin in 2028.
 

 


Hamas says Israeli block on diggers affecting extraction of hostages’ bodies

People walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. (REUTERS)
Updated 07 February 2025
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Hamas says Israeli block on diggers affecting extraction of hostages’ bodies

  • Of the 251 hostages Hamas seized in its unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 76 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead

GAZA CITY: Hamas on Friday said Israel’s blocking of heavy machinery entering Gaza to clear rubble caused by war was affecting efforts to extract the bodies of hostages.
“Preventing the entry of heavy equipment and machinery needed to remove 55 million tonnes of rubble ... will undoubtedly affect the resistance’s ability to extract from under the rubble the dead prisoners (hostages),” said Salama Marouf, spokesman for Hamas’s media office in Gaza.
Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of slowing down aid deliveries expected under the terms of the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza, including key items such as fuel, tents, and heavy machinery for clearing rubble.

FASTFACT

Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of slowing down aid deliveries expected under the terms of the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli government and COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, have rejected the accusation.
Of the 251 hostages Hamas seized in its unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 76 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.
Hamas’ armed wing released the names of three captives it said would be freed on Saturday in a fifth hostage-prisoner swap as part of an ongoing agreement with Israel.
“Within the framework of the Al-Aqsa Flood deal for the prisoner exchange, the (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have decided to release” the three hostages, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed wing, said on Telegram.