Palestinians search for bodies and survivors after Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Tuesday
China harshly criticized the United States for vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The Chinese government said the move sent a “wrong message” and effectively gave a “green light for the genocide to continue.”
The White House said Algeria’s proposed resolution “endangers” talks to end the war.
The United States has proposed its own temporary ceasefire resolution and warned Israel not to invade the city of Rafah.
As fighting continues in Gaza, there is widespread condemnation of the US decision to block Algeria’s resolution. It was supported by 13 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, but the UK abstained.
In response to the veto, China’s ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, said the claim that the motion would disrupt ongoing diplomatic negotiations was “totally untenable.”
“Considering the situation on the ground, continuing to passively avoid an immediate ceasefire is no different from giving a green light to the continuation of the massacre,” he said.
He added: “The spillover of the conflict is destabilizing the entire Middle East region and increasing the risk of broader war.”
“Only by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can we prevent the entire region from being engulfed in hellfire.”
Algeria’s top UN diplomat declared: “Unfortunately, the Security Council has failed again.” Amar Bendjama added: “Examine your conscience. What will history say?”
US allies also criticized the move. France’s UN special envoy Nicolas de Rivière expressed regret that a resolution had not been adopted “given the dire situation on the ground”.
U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield in Washington said it was not the right time to call for an immediate ceasefire as negotiations between Hamas and Israel continue.
British Prime Minister Barbara Woodward said the plan “could actually make a ceasefire less likely” by jeopardizing negotiations.
Israel launched an operation in Gaza after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and over 240 hostages.
More than 29,000 people have been killed in the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The draft resolution proposed by the United States calls for a temporary ceasefire “as soon as possible” with the release of all hostages, and calls for the removal of barriers to aid reaching Gaza.
The White House has so far avoided using the word “ceasefire” in U.N. votes on the war, but it is unclear whether or when the Security Council will vote on the proposal.
It also said that a major ground attack in Rafah would result in further damage to civilians and further displacement, potentially including to neighboring countries, but this is a reference to Egypt. It is.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he was “committed to continuing the war until we achieve all our goals” and that no amount of pressure could change that.
More than 1 million displaced Palestinians, about half of the Strip’s population, have been forced to seek refuge in Rafah and are crammed into it. Before the war, only 250,000 people lived in this southern city, which borders Egypt.
Many of the displaced people live in makeshift shelters or tents in poor conditions with little access to safe drinking water or food.
The United Nations has issued its own warning that a planned Israeli attack on the city could lead to “genocide”. The Israeli military has previously maintained that it was targeting only Hamas fighters.
Israeli War Cabinet Secretary Benny Gantz has warned that Hamas will launch a ground offensive if it does not release all hostages by March 10.