New York: Europe and the Arabs - Agencies
Palestine's representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that the failure of the Security Council to adopt a draft resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is "extremely unfortunate" and "catastrophic."
Commenting on the failure to adopt the resolution in the Council, Mansour said, “The lives of millions of Palestinians are unknown, but the lives of each one of them are sacred and deserve to be saved.”
Instead of allowing the Security Council to follow through on its mandate by finally making a clear call after two months of massacres and atrocities, "war criminals are being given more time to commit their crimes," he added. He concluded by saying: “How can this be justified? How can anyone justify the slaughter of an entire people?”
On Friday, the UN Security Council failed to pass a draft resolution demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after the United States used its veto.
After voting on the draft resolution submitted by his country, Mohammed Abu Shehab, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, expressed his country's disappointment regarding the outcome of the vote.
He asked, "What message do we send to the Palestinian people if we cannot unite behind a call to stop the relentless bombing of Gaza?"
After voting on the draft resolution and using its veto, Robert Wood, the US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, said that his country - despite the hasty process and the lack of proper consultations from the sponsors of the draft resolution - engaged in the negotiations in good faith.
He said that Washington proposed a formula towards a constructive text that would strengthen diplomacy to seek the delivery of humanitarian aid inside Gaza, encourage the release of hostages, call for humanitarian truces, and lay the basic building block for building peace.
He stated, "All of these recommendations have been ignored, and the draft resolution was unbalanced and far from the truth, which does not enable us to advance in the field in any tangible way."
Egypt's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Osama Abdel Khaleq, said that the Arab and Islamic worlds, and many around the world, view the role of the United Nations and the Security Council in particular in “this unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” with much anger, accusation, and criticism.
Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, called for an end to the cycle of violence. He added that his country adds its voice to "many calls for a sustainable ceasefire, a return to resolving the root causes of this conflict, and an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip."
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the need for the international community to do everything possible to end the plight of the people of Gaza. He urged the Security Council to spare no effort to push for "an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the protection of civilians and the urgent delivery of life-saving relief."
The Secretary-General said he sent his letter to the Security Council using Article 99 of the Charter, “because we have reached a breaking point. There is a high risk of complete collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza, with devastating consequences.”