The United States Vetos a Ceasefire Resolution in Gaza
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood speaks during a United Nations Security Council after the vote about a ceasefire in Gaza at UN headquarters in New York on December 8, 2023. The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for an immediate ceasefire in the intense fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The United States' deputy representative at the UN, Robert Wood, said the resolution was "divorced from reality" and "would have not moved the needle forward on the ground." (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
On December 8, the United Nations called for a vote regarding a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, the United States was the only vote against it causing the grief and horrors occurring in Gaza to continue. Every other member, excluding the United Kingdom who refrained from voting at all, was completely for creating a ceasefire. The United States stands alone in this decision but refuses to back down and continues to fund Israel’s attack on Palestine.
Despite immense pressure from the United States public, the Biden administration blocked this attempt for a moment of peace. They continue to protect Israel while airstrikes bombard Palestinians who have no safe place to seek. The United States holds a tremendous amount of power, and yet they cannot see how absurd their decision is. A decision that is harming more lives than they are saving. The death toll in Gaza is rising towards 18,000 with even more injured and helpless.
The United States government tries to explain its reasoning saying they wish to eradicate the problem of Hamas before they gain more traction, but there is no excuse for condemning a whole country of people for the actions of one attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th. The vote was called by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who tries to caution against the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The Palestinians are starving to death if the incessant bombing by Israel didn’t kill them first. This truce between the two countries should not be so difficult to establish as it goes past political issues and crosses into a moral dilemma. The United States should be held accountable for its complicity in this atrocity and its heartless veto that demonstrates a callous disregard for human life.
