US votes against UN resolution denouncing Israel's use of force against Palestinian civilians
Security council responds by rejecting American resolution faulting Hamas
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Your support makes all the difference.The United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s use of force in seeking to squelch protests at the border with Gaza.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley rejected the Kuwaiti-authored resolution - which sought “international protection” for Palestinian civilians - as “grossly one-sided” and “morally bankrupt”, saying it failed to mention Hamas’s role in instigating violence.
Thousands of Palestinians were wounded and scores died as Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinians rushing the fences, some of them wielding flaming tyres or floating explosives on kites.
America has sided firmly with Israel in saying that Hamas, the terrorist group that governs the Gaza strip, provoked the bloodshed by urging civilians to try and breach the border.
“The terrorist group Hamas bares primary responsibility for the awful living conditions in Gaza”, Ms Haley said ahead of the vote.
Matching America’s veto, the security council subsequently show down a US-authored resolution that faulted Hamas and called on militant groups to cease “all violent activity and provocative actions”.
“The Palestinian people deserve a better life that can only happen if we acknowledge and reject the terrorist actions of Hamas”, Ms Haley said during a Security Council meeting ahead of the vote.
As the area around the border was descending into chaos, American officials were in Jerusalem celebrating the relocation of the American embassy - a change that followed Donald Trump’s decision to break from decades of precedent and recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The move generated a global outcry, with Palestinians saying America had tarnished its ability to serve as an objective negotiator to a peace deal. Palestinians lay claim to at least part of Jerusalem, and some officials predicted a resolution with a future Palestinian state was no longer possible.
In response to the diplomatic backlash, the Trump administration slashed aid to a UN initiative that assists Palestinians.
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