New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United States of America used its veto in the UN Security Council against a draft resolution submitted by the ten elected members of the Council, calling for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire respected by all parties, and reiterating its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
The draft resolution received the support of 14 members of the fifteen members of the Council, but it was not adopted due to the use of the veto by the United States - the permanent member of the Council.

The draft resolution stresses the demand for the parties to comply with their obligations under international law regarding the persons they detain and to enable the civilian population in the Gaza Strip to immediately obtain basic services and humanitarian assistance necessary for their survival.
According to the UN daily news bulletin, the US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Robert Wood, said that adopting this draft resolution would have sent a dangerous message to Hamas, namely that "there is no need to return to the negotiating table. Hamas would have seen this as justification for its strategy based on hoping and praying that the international community would forget the fate of more than a hundred hostages from more than twenty member states who have been held for 410 days." He pointed out that the Security Council had previously called for a permanent end to the war with the release of the hostages, "and these two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned this necessity, which is why the United States could not support it." He warned that the diplomatic solution that his country continues to seek to bring peace and freedom to the Palestinians in Gaza has not been reached because Hamas has rejected one deal after another, adding that "some members of this Council ignore Hamas's brutal intransigence in their public statements, and have even refused to condemn Hamas." “Some members of this Council seem unwilling to face the fact that it is not Israel that is standing in the way of a ceasefire and a hostage deal today. It is Hamas,” he added.

Wood said his country had made it clear to Israel that it had a responsibility to facilitate the wide-ranging delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, adding that “the process of setting out in very detailed terms what we expect from Israel has led to a change in Israel’s approach.”
He regretted that the Council could have used the compromise language put forward by the United Kingdom to bridge the gaps and support these humanitarian steps, adding that “we have also put forward many formulas over the past few weeks that could have bridged the gaps and made this Council speak with one voice.”
Algeria
For his part, Ambassador Amar Benjamaa, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, said that today is a "sad day" for the entire international community as the Council failed to adopt a draft resolution that should have been the "minimum" that would unite it and serve "only to break its deafening silence" five months after the adoption of Resolution 2735.

He said that calls for a ceasefire had come from all over the world, "but nothing has stopped the Israeli killing machine". He added: "Today's message is clear: to the Israeli occupying power, first, you can continue your genocide. You can continue your collective punishment of the Palestinian people with complete impunity in this room, you enjoy immunity. And to the Palestinian people, another clear message: while the vast majority of the world stands in solidarity with your plight, it is regrettable that others remain indifferent to your suffering".

“Once known as a city of children, Gaza has tragically become a city of orphans,” Ambassador Benjamaa said, noting that at least 326 aid workers had been killed – “the highest number ever recorded in history” – and more than a thousand health workers. He also stressed that Israel had “killed more journalists in a single year than were lost in World War II and the Vietnam War combined”. “Where are those who claim to be defenders of human rights and freedom of expression? Why are they silent in the face of such atrocities?” he asked.

He said that such a failure would have “devastating consequences for the international system”, but stressed that efforts to demand an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza would continue until the Council took decisive action, “this time in more forceful language, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter”. What is Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter?
The draft resolution rejected any effort to starve the Palestinians, and called for the full, rapid, safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip and all its areas, and its delivery to all Palestinian civilians in need, including civilians in the besieged northern Gaza Strip who are in dire need of immediate humanitarian relief, under the coordination of the United Nations.
He stressed that UNRWA remains the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, and called on all parties to enable the agency to implement its mandate as adopted by the General Assembly, in all its areas of operation, with full respect for the principles of humanitarian action based on humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and to respect international humanitarian law, including the protection of United Nations and humanitarian facilities.
Russia
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said that the Council could have called today for an immediate, unconditional and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
“It is unconscionable that the United States cynically stands in the way of such life-saving measures in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” he added. Nebenzia said Americans were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians and the suffering of hostages and illegally detained Palestinians.