RAMALLAH, Thursday, October 26, 2023 (WAFA) - China and Russia on Wednesday vetoed a draft resolution sponsored by the United States on Gaza, while a second Russian-backed resolution failed to be adopted having failed to get sufficient votes in favor.

The US-led draft resolution failed to pass owing to a negative vote by permanent Security Council members China and Russia. 

Ten members of the Council voted for the draft resolution and three against (China, Russia, and UAE), with two abstentions (Brazil and Mozambique).

A second draft resolution, led by Russia, was not adopted as it failed to secure a sufficient number of votes in favor.

Four Council members voted in favor (China, Gabon, Russia and UAE), two against (UK and US), and nine abstained (Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland).

For a resolution to be adopted, it must be supported by at least nine members of the Council.

The similarly worded resolutions would have called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” or “humanitarian pause” to enable safe delivery of aid for desperate civilians.

Key differences in the text included a specific mention in the US-backed proposal of States’ inherent right to self-defense and a call in the Russian-led one for the immediate cancellation by Israeli forces of the evacuation order for civilians to head into southern Gaza.

Last Monday, a previous Russian-led draft resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” was voted down and the following Wednesday, the United States vetoed a Brazilian-led text that urged “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to millions in the Gaza Strip.

T.R.