Hamas denounced the United States for its decision on Friday to veto a resolution in the United Nations Security Council that would have called for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
“We strongly condemn Washington’s use of veto against a draft resolution in the Security Council demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. We consider it an immoral and inhumane position,” Izzat al-Risheq, Hamas political bureau member, said in a statement.
The resolution called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” The U.S. was the sole country to veto the resolution, while 13 countries voted in favor of it and the United Kingdom abstained.
With its veto, the U.S. effectively sided with Israel in its right to defend itself. Israel has also said that a ceasefire before Hamas is removed from power in the Gaza Strip would only lead to more conflict in the future. The current war began after Hamas and other factions attacked Israel on October 7, which resulted in an excursion into Gaza by Israel Defense Forces.
“America’s obstruction of the issuance of a ceasefire resolution is a direct participation of the occupation in killing our people and committing more massacres and ethnic cleansing,” al-Risheq added in his statement.
Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood explained his country’s stance before Friday’s vote.
“Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution,” he said. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire.”
Newsweek contacted Israel’s Government Press Office on Friday night via email for comment.
The international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch also condemned the U.S. veto.
“The U.S. used its veto again to prevent the Security Council from making some of the calls the U.S. itself has been demanding of Israel & Palestinian armed groups, including compliance w/ int’l humanitarian law, protection of civilians & releasing all civilians held hostage,” Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations director at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Charbonneau added: “By continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the U.S. risks complicity in war crimes.”
The American Jewish Committee (AJC), however, praised the United States’ decision to not back the resolution. The advocacy group’s CEO, Ted Deutch, said in a statement that the AJC “is grateful to the U.S. administration for using its veto power to prevent the UN Security Council from adopting a harmful draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.”
“We regret the suffering of Palestinian civilians and the loss of civilian Palestinian lives,” Deutch’s statement read in part. “But the responsibility for such suffering and loss lies with Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza who deliberately and callously hide and launch attacks among civilians, using them as human shields.”
Update 12/08/23, 9:40 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include statements from Human Rights Watch and the American Jewish Committee.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
