On October 18, 2023, the United Nations Security Council introduced a draft resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, calling for a ceasefire between the two sides and condemning Israel's indiscriminate attacks on Gaza.
Of the current 15 members of the United Nations, 12 voted in favour of the proposal, 1 against it and 2 abstained.
Ruins in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Security Council resolution was opposed
It is worth mentioning that this is the second time that the UN Security Council has submitted a draft resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The last time Russia submitted a draft on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, it called for a ceasefire between the two sides to allow for the evacuation of civilians, the release of hostages and the distribution of humanitarian assistance. At that time, five countries were in favour, four against and six abstained.
The Council is meeting
In this second Security Council resolution, more countries have been in favor of condemning Israel, from 5 to 12. The main reason for this is that two things have happened.
The first was that Israel attacked evacuated civilians.
After the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel declared war on Hamas. To better combat Hamas, Israel has demanded that 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip be evacuated from the area within 24 hours.
Without discussing whether Israel's demand that the 1.1 million civilians in Gaza be evacuated within 24 hours, Israel's subsequent backtracking is egregious enough.
Convoy fleeing northern Gaza
Because after Israel proposed to open a "humanitarian passage" for the evacuation of civilians, Israel attacked the convoy of Gaza civilians during the evacuation, causing very serious casualties.
While Israel is demanding that Gazans do something that is simply impossible, it has killed Gaza civilians who are complying with their demands.
The severity of this behavior can be said to be basically the same as the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese army and the war crime of Germany sending Jews to the gas chambers.
The second thing was the bombing of the Baptist hospital.
On October 17, 2023, a Baptist hospital in the Gaza Strip was hit by an unidentified shell, causing a large number of deaths and injuries on the spot.
After the bombing of the Baptist hospital
By the 18th, more than 500 dead and wounded had been identified.
After the attack on the Baptist hospital, the entire international community immediately caused an uproar.
On the one hand, regardless of the laws of war and international law, humanitarian facilities such as hospitals are immune to war. But any military organization with a little conscience will not hit hospitals in war.
On the other hand, Baptist Hospital, a hospital with a Christian background, was completely neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The most important thing is that after Israel made a "bombing warning" of Gaza, it also called on civilians in Gaza to go to Baptist hospitals to avoid the bombing.
Coupled with Israel's previous attack on convoys evacuating civilians from northern Gaza, blocking all passages for Gazans to leave the war zone, many Gaza civilians took refuge in Baptist hospitals before they were hit.
Palestine refugees hiding in a Baptist hospital
It can be said that after these two events, Israel completely went to the opposite side of the entire international community and committed unforgivable war crimes.
After the United Nations Security Council offered to condemn Israel's attack on Gaza, it was normal to receive a high number of votes.
On the contrary, it was the 1 vote against, which seemed inhumane. This country that opposes is precisely the United States.
And the United States not only opposed, but also used a veto on the Security Council resolution, using the power of permanent members of the United Nations to prevent the United Nations from condemning Israel and taking further measures.
The Council is meeting
The reasons for the United States opposition to the resolution
Interestingly, the reason why the United States opposed the adoption of the Security Council resolution was that the resolution did not mention "Israel's right to self-defense."
That is to say, the United States believes that Israel's attack on Hamas is reasonable and legal, and the adoption of this UN resolution will affect Israel's power.
It is clear that in the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is self-evident who the country least wants to stop the fighting, or even to aggravate the situation.
But this excuse of the United States has two very obvious loopholes.
Ruins in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
One is, where does Israel have the power and ability to define the so-called Hamas?
Could it be that it is Hamas that does not carry a gun, Hamas disguised as a civilian who does not carry a gun, Hamas who shoots at him and flees, and a well-trained Hamas that does not run away?
Second, Israel's behavior now clearly exceeds what the United States calls "Israel's right to self-defense."
Whether it is an attack on evacuated civilian convoys or the bombing of hospitals, it is a complete war crime against humanity.
Therefore, the behavior of the United States is an obvious cover-up, and it is an act of ignoring facts and international justice in order to achieve its geopolitical goals.
U.S. and Israeli diplomacy
What can the United Nations do now?
In fact, as things stand, the United Nations agrees to intervene in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to allow the two sides to cease fire, which is a more favorable situation for the United States.
At present, the United States is weakened and cannot simultaneously deploy in the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, the Middle East, and East Asia.
With the current primary strategic goal of the United States being to contain China, maintaining stability in the Middle East will allow the United States to focus its efforts and resources on dealing with China.
So now the United States is also making efforts in various ways to hope for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
Biden meets with Netanyahu
If the United Nations is willing to intervene, it would also be a good way to get a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel.
As for why the United States is unwilling to let the UN Security Council resolution pass, on the one hand, the United States must take care of the emotions of the Israeli side and cannot let Israel completely ignore the United States.
On the other hand, it may be that the United States still thinks it is capable of controlling the situation.
Now that the two U.S. aircraft carriers have arrived in the Mediterranean, without the intervention of another major power, these two aircraft carriers are enough to subdue the Middle Eastern countries and make them not act rashly.
USS Ford of the United States
And judging from the propaganda in the United States, although Israel has done a lot of angry things, the United States is still trying to find a way to regain the dominance of public opinion.
In other words, the United States wants to dominate global public opinion and make the world believe that the current situation is Hamas's fault.
As for the United States using a veto at the United Nations, it is only the embodiment of this purpose of the United States.
Resources:
[1] Beijing Daily client · "Foreign media: The United Nations announced that it will investigate the attack on Gaza Baptist hospital as soon as possible"
[2] Guangming Network · "The United States once again vetoed the Security Council's Palestinian-Israeli resolution China: Achieving a comprehensive ceasefire is a priority goal"
[3] Phoenix Network · "Israel attacks civilian convoys asked to evacuate!" Many media reporters died in Israeli artillery fire"