The US has unsurprisingly vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) which would grant the State of Palestine full membership at the UN. 

This comes shortly after the US vetoed for a ceasefire multiple times against the Israeli regime’s ongoing onslaught in Gaza, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territory, skyrocketing the death toll of Palestinans to more than 34,000 while pushing all of Gaza’s 2.2 million people to the brink of famine. 

Twelve countries voted in favor of the resolution, which was brought forth by Algeria, with the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining. 

The US decision to veto the draft resolution of recognizing Palestine as a State has won condemnation from across the globe. The Palestinian Resistance has accused the US of “standing in the face of international will,” by misusing its veto power and depriving Palestinains full membership in the world body.

The Palestinian Resistance has called on the international community “to exert pressure to go beyond the American will and support the struggle of our Palestinian people and their legitimate right to self-determination.”

“We assure the world that our Palestinian people will continue their struggle and resistance until they defeat the occupation, take away their rights, and establish their independence, fully sovereign. Qatar also expressed “deep regret at the failure of the UNSC to adopt a resolution,” and said that this reveals the council’s “inability to carry out its responsibilities and role within the framework of maintaining international peace and security, especially in light of the brutal war on the Gaza Strip.”

Russia’s representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, slammed the US saying that the decision has exposed the US saying, “By using the veto for the fifth time since the beginning of the escalation in Gaza, they have again demonstrated their true attitude towards the Palestinians. For Washington, they do not deserve to have a state of their own. They are only an obstacle on the way to the realization of Israel’s interests.” 

“The aim is to break the Palestinians’ will, to force them once and for all to submit to the occupying power, to turn them into servants and second-class persons, and perhaps, to once and for all force them out of their native territory, but that policy is only having an opposite impact,” he added.

“Israel,” on the other hand lauded their military backer, the US, for vetoing the resolution which they labeled as a “shameful proposal.”

“It is outrageous that even half a year after the October 7 massacre, the UN Security Council failed to condemn Hamas[‘s] horrific crimes,” Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz wrote on X, referring to the retaliatory attacks by the Palestinian Resistance on October 7, 2023. 

The US was quick to defend itself, claiming that it “has worked vigorously and with determination to support Palestinian statehood in the context of a comprehensive peace agreement that would permanently resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

“Since the attacks of October 7, President Biden has been clear that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution with Israel’s security guarantee,” US deputy Spokesperson said after raising his hand to veto the resolution. 

“There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish state,” Wood continued.

He said that “there are unresolved questions as to whether the applicant meets the criteria to be considered a state.”

Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide also joined the growing number of states who disapprove of the US’s veto, expressing his country’s “regret” that the UNSC “did not agree on admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN.”

“We would have voted in favour. Norway is a staunch supporter of Palestine’s right to statehood,” Eide wrote.