US responsible for bloodshed of children in Gaza: Palestine President after US vetoes ceasefire

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday accused the United States of being "responsible" for the bloodshed of children in Gaza after Washington vetoed a UN resolution calling for an 'immediate ceasefire', Times of Israel reported.

"The president has described the American position as aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values, and holds the United States responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip," a statement from President Abbas's office read.

This comes after the US vetoed the resolution at the UN Security Council that had called for an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza. The voting was called after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN charter to call a Security Council meeting. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also slammed the decision and said the veto was "a disgrace and another blank cheque given to the occupying state to massacre, destroy and displace", Al Jazeera reported.

Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the UNSC that the result of the vote was "disastrous" adding that millions of Palestinian lives hang in balance. "If you are against the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian people you must stand against this war. And if you support it then you are enabling this destruction and displacement regardless of your intentions...Millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance. Every single one of them is sacred, worth saving," Al Jazeera quoted him as saying.

During the vote on Friday, 13 UNSC member countries were in favour of the draft resolution. However, the US exercised its veto power. On the other hand, the UK abstained, saying it could not vote on a resolution that did not condemn Hamas. Notably, it was the sixth time the Security Council had tried to reach consensus, CNN reported.

Giving a statement on Washington's stand, US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that it vetoed the ceasefire resolution because there was no mention of the October 7 terror attacks. Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, thanked the US for "standing firm with us" in a post on X following the vote, while referring to it as a "detached discussion about a distorted resolution directed at the wrong side and not even condemning Hamas".

Hamas -- the terror organization behind the horrific October 7 attacks -- also condemned the veto and called the US veto an "immoral and inhumane position." A member of Hamas' political bureau, Izzat Al-Rishq, said in a statement: "America's obstruction of the issuance of a ceasefire resolution is a direct participation with the [Israeli] occupation in killing our people."

Several aid groups have strongly criticised the US for vetoing the resolution. Amnesty International's secretary general called the veto a "callous disregard" for human suffering while Medecins Sans Frontieres - also known as Doctors Without Borders - said the US "stands alone in casting its vote against humanity." Oxfam meanwhile said the veto "puts another nail in the coffin for US credibility on matters of human rights," CNN reported.