Gaza: US vetoes UN draft

New York – The United States on Saturday vetoed an Arab-sponsored draft resolution in the UN Security Council that would have condemned Israel’s deadly attack in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rocket firing into the Jewish state.

US Ambassador John Bolton called the text “unbalanced”, “biased against Israel and politically motivated”, adding that it did not provide an “even-handed characterisation” of the Israeli shelling of the Gaza town of Beit Hanun that killed 19 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children. Ten of the council’s 15 members voted in favour and four – Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia – abstained.As one of the council’s five permanent members along with Britain, China, France and Russia, the United States has veto power which it has now used 82 times, often to shield the Jewish state from censure.It previous use of the veto was in July to block a Qatari-sponsored draft resolution that would have condemned Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza as “disproportionate force” and would have demanded a halt to Israeli operations in the territory.AFPTen of the council’s 15 members voted in favour and four – Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia – abstained.As one of the council’s five permanent members along with Britain, China, France and Russia, the United States has veto power which it has now used 82 times, often to shield the Jewish state from censure.It previous use of the veto was in July to block a Qatari-sponsored draft resolution that would have condemned Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza as “disproportionate force” and would have demanded a halt to Israeli operations in the territory.AFP