Drew Angerer, Getty/AFP | US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks a UN Security Council meeting in May. On Friday, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution denouncing violence against Palestinians. Competing U.N. Security Council proposals to respond to the escalation of violence in Gaza both failed Friday, starkly baring divisions that have paralyzed the U.N.'s most powerful body. Advertising Read more After months of urgent council discussions about the violence, the U.S. vetoed an Arab-backed resolution that sought to explore ways to ensure "international protection" for Palestinian civilians, and there wasn't enough support to pass a U.S. resolution to condemn Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza. Ten of the council's 15 members voted for the Arab-backed resolution, drafted by Kuwait; four abstained. The U.S. was the sole yes vote for its resolution, though a majority didn't take any position; 11 abstained. So far, the council hasn't been able to agree on so much as a press statement about what the U.N.'s Mideast envoy has called the most serious increase in violence in Gaza since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. "This heavy silence is disastrous - for the world that is watching us, for the credibility of the council, for multilateralism," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said after voting for the Kuwaiti measure. In two months of mass protests at the Gaza border, over 115 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli military fire. Israel says its troops were defending its border and accused Hamas of trying to attack under the cover of the protest. Hamas and other militants bombarded southern Israel with rockets and mortars Tuesday, and Israel responded by striking targets throughout Gaza. Hamas said Wednesday it had agreed to a cease-fire with Israel. The Kuwaiti measure asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report on ways to ensure Palestinian civilians' "safety, protection and well-being," including recommendations about "an international protection mechanism." The proposal also emphasized the need for accountability and independent investigations into the events in Gaza. It "deplored" the recent rocket barrage, without specifying who was behind it, though Hamas and a smaller Islamic militant group have claimed responsibility. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley called it "grossly one-sided" for deploring the use of "any excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force by the Israeli forces" while not mentioning Hamas. "The resolution places all blame on Israel" and "is wildly inaccurate," she said. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon called the proposal unworthy of consideration. "It is true the residents of Gaza need protection - they need protection from Hamas," he said. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic group seized control of Gaza in 2007. The Palestinian envoy rejected Israeli and U.S. claims that the measure was biased: "If anything, the draft did not go far enough in addressing the nightmare the Palestinian people are living," Ambassador Riyad Mansour said. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians had a vote on the measures. Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said the council's lack of action "will increase the sentiments of despair among the Palestinians." The U.S. proposal, meanwhile, said nothing about Israeli force or protecting Palestinian civilians, while casting blame on Hamas for violence, endangering civilians, and deteriorating conditions in Gaza. It demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups stop "all violent activity and provocative actions" in Gaza and called for a report on the recent actions of "terrorist organizations such as Hamas" in the coastal strip. "This resolution rightly places responsibility where it belongs," Haley said. But some other council members, including Russia, said the U.S. measure wasn't evenhanded. A few countries abstained from voting on either proposal. "Today's resolutions contain elements that are either imbalanced or too vague to be viable," said British Ambassador Karen Pierce. (AP) Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Subscribe<doc-sep>Israel shoots down heavy Gaza mortar fire, May 29, 2018 (Reuters) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley praises Israel on for showing restraint in Gaza, May 15, 2018 (Reuters) I condemn the rocket fire from #Gaza into Israel today. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians, especially those that risk killing or injuring children, are completely unacceptable under any circumstances. May 29, 2018 The United States called on the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting Wednesday in New York to condemn the Gaza rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.“The recent attacks out of Gaza are the largest we have seen since 2014. Mortars fired by Palestinian militants hit civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in a statement she issue to the media.“The Security Council should be outraged and respond to this latest bout of violence directed at innocent Israeli civilians, and the Palestinian leadership needs to be held accountable for what they’re allowing to happen in Gaza,” she said.Earlier this month, the UNSC held an emergency meeting to blast Israel for using “excessive force” in combating the violent riots and infiltration attempts along its Gaza border that began on March 30.Hamas charged that Israel killed 102 Palestinians along the border during that time.The US blocked the UNSC at the time for issuing a statement condemning Israel for the killings.On Tuesday, a number of UNSC members and western states condemned Hamas for its violence against Israel on a day that in which over 100 rockets and mortars were launched at Israel, with two of the missiles falling in school yards.British Foreign Secretary Alistair Burt tweeted, “Indiscriminate attacks against civilians, especially those that risk killing or injuring children, are completely unacceptable under any circumstances.”He visited Gaza on Tuesday to announce an economic package of 1.5 million pounds for medial relief.“I am deeply concerned about the worsening situation in the Gaza strip, and today’s UK aid package gives a message to the world, and to the people of Gaza, that we have not forgotten them or their plight,” Burt said.“Today’s support will help to ensure that hospitals which are under immense pressure are able to cope with the increased number of casualties who need medical and surgical care. It is absolutely vital that the UK steps up to help those suffering and ensure that vulnerable Gazans are able to access treatment to keep them alive,” he added.The United Nations, Canada, Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Austria also spoke out against the rocket attacks.“Such acts of violence are unacceptable and severely threaten the long term goal of just and lasting peace. Our thoughts are with everyone affected,” Canada said.The Czech Foreign Ministry said it “fully supports Israeli right for security.”The European Union said, “The rocket and mortar fire by Palestinian militants from Gaza towards Israel must stop immediately.“A de-escalation of this dangerous situation is urgently needed to ensure that civilians' lives are protected. Israelis and Palestinians both have the right to live in peace, security and dignity: the cycle of violence and despair has to be broken with a genuine political process,” the EU added.<doc-sep>To improve the performance of our website, show the most relevant news products and targeted advertising, we collect technical impersonal information about you, including through the tools of our partners. You can find a detailed description of how we use your data in our Privacy Policy. For a detailed description of the technologies, please see the Cookie and Automatic Logging Policy. By clicking on the "Accept & Close" button, you provide your explicit consent to the processing of your data to achieve the above goal. You can withdraw your consent using the method specified in the Privacy Policy.<doc-sep>
The United Nations Security Council will meet tomorrow at the request of the United States to discuss Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel, diplomats said. The US circulated a draft statement today calling on the council to condemn "in the strongest terms the indiscriminate firing of rockets by Palestinian militants in Gaza" toward Israel, according to a copy of the text seen by AFP. It comes after reports that Israel and Palestinian militant factions agreed a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were denied by an Israeli official. "The report about a ceasefire is incorrect," said the official, who declined to be named. Palestinian militants launched their heaviest barrages against Israel since the 2014 Gaza war and Israeli aircraft struck back, in a surge of fighting after weeks of border violence. Three Israeli soldiers were wounded by shrapnel, the military said, after dozens of mortar bombs and rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, triggering warning sirens in southern Israel throughout the day. There were no immediate reports of Palestinian casualties. Israel has long said it will not tolerate such attacks, and its warplanes hit more than 30 targets belonging to armed groups, including a cross-border tunnel under construction, the military said. In a statement, the Embassy of Israel said that Hamas was responsible for the attacks from the Gaza Strip. It also said that Israel will "continue to act with determination to save lives and protect the security of its citizens." There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the barrages, which came after pro-Iran Islamic Jihad vowed to take revenge for the killing of three of its members on Sunday by Israeli tank shelling. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security chiefs and Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said the country was "at the closest point to the threshold of war" since the seven-week conflict with Palestinian militants four years ago. "If the firing (from Gaza) does not stop, we will have to escalate our responses and it could lead to a deterioration of the situation," Mr Katz said on Army Radio. Daoud Shehab, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, said Egyptian officials had been in contact with the group to try to restore calm. He said Islamic Jihad did not want the violence to escalate and blamed Israel for the flare-up. "If Israel abides by calm and ceases all forms of aggression against our people in Gaza, we will also maintain calm," he said. Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said the most extensive strikes from Gaza since the 2014 war also drew "the largest IDF retaliatory attack" since that conflict. The Israeli military said more than 25 projectiles were fired today. Several were shot down by its Iron Dome rocket interceptor system while others landed in empty lots and farmland. One exploded in the yard of a kindergarten, damaging its walls and scattering the playground with debris and shrapnel, about an hour before it was scheduled to open for the day. Violence has soared along the Gaza frontier in recent weeks, during which 116 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire at mass demonstrations calling for Palestinians' right to return to ancestral lands now in Israel. They peaked on 14 May, when at least 61 Palestinians were killed as tens of thousands of Gazans protested and clashes erupted on the same day of the US transfer of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. A Hamas spokesman defended today’s attacks as a "natural response to Israeli crimes". An Islamic Jihad spokesman said "the blood of our people is not cheap".