Jun 04, 2025 1:50:08 pm
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas in Gaza. The US was the only nation to oppose the resolution. Fourteen others, including the United Kingdom, voted in favor. There were no abstentions.
This is not the first time the US has vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on Gaza. In November 2024, it vetoed one calling for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, on the grounds it would not have secured the release of hostages.
The United Kingdom said it “regrets” that the latest resolution “was unable to reach a consensus.”
“The United Kingdom voted in favor of this resolution today because of the intolerable situation in Gaza,” the UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Barbara Woodward said following the vote.
Woodward described Israel’s expansion of its military operations in Gaza and its severe restrictions on aid as “unjustifiable, disproportionate, and counterproductive.”
A spokesperson for the president of the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said the use of the US veto “perpetuates instability and insecurity,” and benefits “no one.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked US President Donald Trump and the US administration “for standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel and vetoing this one-sided resolution in the UN Security Council.”
The draft text had demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties” and the “immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale.” It also demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.” – CNN
WHATABOUTISM: I understand that most people don’t want to look at these images, but dear God, how can we keep on pretending that it is not happening. If these were white people or Israelis for that matter, there would be global outrage. Spare me your selective whataboutism and get a grip on your humanity.
The worse the atrocities become, the more America cracks down on dissent. The West bears responsibility for continually mollycoddling Israel’s outrages barbarism. Yes Hamas committed atrocities on October 7, but this level of revenge is demonic and outright evil.
There I said it. I don’t care if my posts get blocked, scrubbed, censored, or whatever. I have no desire to visit this genocide enabling version of America, so Marco Rubio can shove his visa up his holier-than-thou.
INHUMANE BLOODLUST: Gaza has become worse than hell on Earth, according to the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric.
Speaking in a BBC interview at the ICRC headquarters in Geneva, Spoljaric says humanity is failing. States are not doing enough to end the war, end the suffering of Palestinians and release Israeli hostages, she adds.
Palestinians, she says, have been stripped of human dignity. International humanitarian law is being hollowed out.
What is happening in Gaza, she says, surpasses any acceptable legal, moral and humane standard.
UPDATE 6/6: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced his department will impose sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “illegitimate” targeting of Israel and the US.
The sanctions are in response to the ICC issuing arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu, and its investigation into alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan.
The four judges named are all women: Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. The ICC has responded in a statement, saying it “deplores” the sanctions which are “a clear attempt to undermine” its independence.
The measures require all property and interests owned by the judges in the US to be blocked and reported to the Treasury department. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Rubio and US President Donald Trump for the intervention, saying they had “stood up for the right of Israel”.
In a statement, Rubio accused the judges of “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting Israel and the US.
“These four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel,” he said.
Rubio also described the ICC as “politicized” and said it “falsely claims unfettered discretion” to investigate nationals of the US and its allies.
“This dangerous assertion and abuse of power infringes upon the sovereignty and national security of the United States and our allies, including Israel.”
In its response, the ICC said it “stands fully behind its personnel” and will continue its work “undeterred”.
“Targeting those working for accountability does nothing to help civilians trapped in conflict,” the court said.
“These sanctions are not only directed at designated individuals, they also target all those who support the Court… They are aimed against innocent victims in all Situations before the Court.”
The ICC is a global court with the power to bring prosecutions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Last year, it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
An arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was also issued but Hamas later confirmed he was killed in an airstrike last year. The judges said there were “reasonable grounds” the three men bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the war between Israel and Hamas. Both Israel and Hamas have rejected the allegations.
In February, President Trump imposed economic sanctions against the ICC, including against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, and said the court had “abused its power”. In Thursday’s announcement, the US state department said two of the judges, Bossa and Ibáñez Carranza had authorised the ICC’s investigation against US personnel in Afghanistan. The other two judges, Alapini Gansou and Hohler, had ruled to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. BBC
UPDATE 10/6: The UK has sanctioned two Israeli far-right ministers over comments they made on Gaza. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will both face a travel ban on entering the UK and will their assets frozen as part of the measures announced by the UK foreign secretary.
David Lammy said the Finance Minister Smotrich and National Security Minister Ben-Gvir had “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.
In response, Israel said: “It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of measures.”
After announcing the sanctions, Lammy said: “These actions are not acceptable. This is why we have taken action now – to hold those responsible to account.
“We will strive to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate release of the remaining hostages by Hamas which can have no future role in the governance of Gaza, a surge in aid and a path to a two-state solution.”
The move comes as the UK and other Western nations seek to ramp up pressure on Israel’s government amid the ongoing war in Gaza. BBC