Russia and China Reject US-backed Resolution on Gaza

According to the Russian news agency TASS on March 22nd, Russia and China vetoed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, which was initiated by the United States. The resolution emphasized the immediate cessation of hostilities but did not explicitly demand its implementation.

In the vote, 11 out of 15 Security Council members, including the United States, supported the resolution. However, Russia, China, and Algeria voted against, while Guyana abstained.

This latest resolution is the most recent in a series of failed cease-fire resolutions that the US has vetoed three times. The US-backed draft resolution had undergone several modifications before the vote, stating the “urgent need” for an “immediate and lasting cease-fire,” but it did not make it legally binding, unlike previous resolutions. Specifically, it did not explicitly require Israel to immediately end its campaign in Gaza.

However, this is the first time that the US has supported a UN resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia stated that the US draft resolution does not effectively restrain Israel and criticized Washington for mentioning a cease-fire order when “Gaza has been almost wiped off the map.” Deputy Russian Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky stated before the vote that Moscow would not be satisfied “with anything that does not call for an immediate cease-fire.”

Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun provided a similar explanation for Beijing’s veto, stating that the draft “avoided the most important issue, which is the cease-fire order,” and described the text being voted on as “ambiguous.”

Jun noted that the draft “does not call for an immediate cease-fire and does not even provide an answer to the question of how to implement the cease-fire in the short term. This does not meet the expectations of the international community.”

On the other hand, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called the US-backed resolution “one-sided,” while Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan stated that vetoing the US resolution means “Hamas can continue to benefit.”

The US has previously blocked three Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate cease-fire, including one last month supported by Arab nations.

The vote at the UN occurred amidst US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s diplomatic efforts. He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 22nd to urge Israel not to launch a ground offensive in Rafah and to do more to allow humanitarian aid.

Before that, Blinken had met with Arab officials, including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in an effort to broker a new cease-fire in Gaza.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated after the vote that he would consider a new cease-fire resolution that could be agreed upon by all permanent members, noting that the US seems willing to support an immediate cease-fire.

The six-month conflict between Israel and Hamas has caused a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, home to over 2 million people. The US has been unable to persuade Israel to allow enough aid to be transferred to Gaza to prevent a famine.

These disruptions have led the US to initiate aid deliveries to the territory and plan the construction of a seaport off the coast of Gaza to facilitate further aid shipments. However, aid experts claim these measures are insufficient to prevent a famine.

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