TheLittleTwentieth – Renowned Papers Edition, AI Infused

Local sources from United States: The Associated Press, CNN.
UK coverage: Sky News.

The United States has vetoed a United Nations resolution backed by almost all other Security Council members and dozens of other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining. The veto has left the US diplomatically isolated, with France, Japan, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey expressing support for a cessation of hostilities.

The UN Secretary-General invoked a rare power to raise the threat of a ‘humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.’ The US and Israel oppose a ceasefire, believing it would benefit Hamas, and instead support humanitarian pauses.

In a statement, Jordan’s top diplomat told reporters that the killings of Palestinian civilians in Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza were war crimes and threatened to destabilize the region, the US, and the world for years to come. ‘If people are not seeing it here, we are seeing it,’ Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. ‘We’re seeing the challenges that we are facing talking to our people. They are all saying we’re doing nothing. Because despite all our efforts, Israel is continuing these massacres.’

Hani Almadhoun, director of philanthropy for the US arm of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA USA), told CNN he knew a dozen people pictured in images showing mass detentions of men by the Israeli military, including his brother. ‘They’re neither fighters, they’re not surrendering, they’re just civilians who were there with their families trying to survive this,’ Almadhoun said.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson on Friday said the men pictured were ‘Hamas members and suspect Hamas members’ who had been stripped to ensure they were not carrying explosives. Separately, a government spokesperson told CNN Israeli forces were apprehending military-age men in areas of Gaza where they had been urging evacuation for more than a month, describing these areas as ‘Hamas strongholds.’

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political office, accused Israel in a statement of ‘kidnapping, invasive searches and disrobing’ what he said was ‘a group of displaced Palestinian civilians.’

The US veto of the resolution has been met with criticism from human rights organizations, with Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard criticizing the US for continuing to transfer munitions to the Israeli government ‘that contribute to the decimation of entire families.’ Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, said that by providing weapons and diplomatic cover to Israel ‘as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the US risks complicity in war crimes.’

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant thanked the United States for its ‘bold leadership.’ ‘A ceasefire is handing a prize to Hamas, dismissing the hostages held in Gaza, and signaling terror groups everywhere,’ he said in a statement. ‘Stand with Israel in our mission. We are fighting for our future, and we are fighting for the free world.’

The US veto of the UN resolution has left the international community struggling to find a way to end the conflict in Gaza, which has killed more than 17,400 people, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry. With the US and Israel standing firmly against a ceasefire, the world is now looking to the Biden administration to find a way to end the conflict and protect the lives of innocent civilians.