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At the 9439th meeting, the United Nations Security Council will address the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. The Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution introduced by Russia on the recent escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian crisis. The draft resolution failed to get the minimum nine votes needed in the 15-member body, having received five votes in favour (China, Gabon, Mozambique, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates) and four against (France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States), with six abstentions (Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Malta, and Switzerland). The resolution would have called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza Following the vote, the Permanent Representative of Russia, Vasily Nebenzya, said, “We regret that the Council, once again, has found itself hostage to the selfish intentions of the Western bloc of countries. This is the only reason why it was not able to send a clear, strong and collective message aimed at de-escalation. We're talking about the most serious explosion of violence over the past decades. Today, the entire world waited with bated breath for the Security Council to take steps in order to put an end to the bloodletting. But the delegations of the Western countries have basically stomped on those expectations.” The Permanent Representative of the United States, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, “Russia’s resolution, put forward without any consultations, make no mention of Hamas, none. By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians. It is outrageous. It is hypocritical and it is indefensible.” The Russia text was one of two drafts being considered. The second one, introduced by Brazil, that should be put to a vote on Tuesday, calls for humanitarian pauses to allow aid access and condemns the Palestinian militant Hamas for its attacks on Israel.
