Explanation of vote by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia during UNSC voting on the situation in Gaza
Before the vote on the Algerian draft:
Mme.President,
For the fifth month now, unprecedented violence has been raging in Gaza on a scale surpassing any conflict that humanity has faced since World War 2. The civilian death toll is approaching a shocking 30,000 (officially). All that time, the UN Security Council has remained unable to take a critical decision demanding an immediate ceasefire.
I should like to recall that on October 16, 2023, when Russia proposed the very first draft resolution calling for a ceasefire, the number of Palestinian casualties was about 1,000. At that time, the Western delegations in the Council chose to abstain en masse in order not to incur the wrath of Washington.
Colleagues, it is not an exaggeration to say that more than 28,000 deaths that occurred since then were the price of that first shameful inaction, the collective irresponsibility of Western delegations to the Security Council, whose NATO solidarity outweighs any national declarations of commitment to international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel.
Since then, the United States has used veto three times to prevent the Council from adopting a demand to a ceasefire. Each time, we have heard the same hypocritical calls from the American delegation to wait a bit longer, to give time for their supposedly effective bilateral diplomacy on the ground. But it never brought any results. And it could not have, since Washington's real goal is not peace in the Middle East or the protection of civilians, but securing its geopolitical interests, which requires accommodating its closest Middle Eastern ally at any cost.
That is why Washington pushed language in Security Council resolution 2720 that in fact meant a "license” for Israel to kill Palestinians in the oPt on the pretext of "creating conditions for a cessation of hostilities". As we warned, the United States continues to provide international protection to the authorities of West Jerusalem and maintain their impunity for numerous crimes against the Gazans.
Colleagues,
On behalf of the Arab Group, the delegation of Algeria proposed a solid, well-balanced draft resolution centered around the long-awaited ceasefire. Algerian colleagues organized the negotiation process in good faith, consulted with all delegations and tried to take their comments into account as much as possible. We should like to make a special mention of the professionalism of the Algerian negotiating team.
However, the US delegation issued an ultimatum from the outset, demanding that work on the document be halted. Our American colleagues argued that Algeria’s draft was dangerous because it could interfere with "sensitive diplomacy on the ground". We have just heard the same thing from the US delegation again. I urge you all to consider the cynicism of this point. In effect, Washington is saying that the UN Security Council is standing in the way of its plans and wants it to stay away. Yesterday, my American colleague publicly stated that she would oppose the Algerian document at the vote.
Colleagues,
Time after time, the United States has shown complete disregard for international institutions, multilateral diplomacy and international law. Today, the authority of the United Nations Security Council is essentially at stake. I call on the members of the Council to demonstrate solidarity in confronting the arbitrariness of Washington, who is ready to make any sacrifice in any region in pursuit of its geopolitical ambitions. The US Government cares neither about the lives of the Gazans nor about the opinion of their own people, are getting more vocal in support of the Palestinians. I want to believe that other UNSC member states will listen, if not to the voice of conscience, then at least to public opinion. And it will no longer forgive the United Nations for inaction.
The situation in the southern part of Gaza around Rafah is extremely dangerous in the context of Israel's military plans. If implemented, they will lead to a catastrophic expansion of the humanitarian disaster, with more than a million residents of the Gaza Strip (who fled the fighting the city on the border with Egypt) at its center. Everything possible must be done to prevent this. Our common task is to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible and ensure conditions for creating routes to deliver humanitarian aid to the population of the enclave.
I call on the members of the Security Council to vote in favor of the Algerian draft resolution.
Thank you.
After the vote:
Mme.President,
Esteemed colleagues,
Today we have seen yet another black page in the history of the UN Security Council. It was written again by the US delegation, whose goal remains unchanged – to cover for its closest Middle Eastern ally and drag out time for as long as possible so that it can complete its inhumane plans for Gaza, namely to expel the Palestinians from the Strip and completely "clean up" the enclave, literally turning it into an uninhabited land.
Under these circumstances, Israeli political circles do not hesitate to reason in categories that completely rule out a two-state solution.
To the calls to end slaughter in Gaza and cease fire they counterpose a demand to condemn the actions of Hamas. But having done so, our American colleagues hypocritically failed to mention that on 18 October, it was the United States who vetoed the Brazilian draft resolution containing such a condemnation.
The Algerian draft could have reversed this situation and stopped the annihilation of Palestinians in Gaza. Unfortunately, the fourth veto by the United States has prevented this and condemned thousands more civilians in Gaza to death.
However, everyone should realize that this result was not a failure of the Security Council, which was actually united today. This was due to the destructive approach of one its member, the United States. The entire responsibility for the consequences falls on Washington, no matter how much it tries to evade it by talking about its "crucial mediation efforts".
However bitter the "aftertaste" of today's vote may be, we are in no mood to give up. The UN Security Council's demand to the parties for an immediate ceasefire remains an imperative. Without it, any "product" of the Council will be meaningless. We have all had the opportunity to see this having adopted toothless humanitarian resolutions on Gaza. They all remained just words on a paper because, as we warned, neither the provision of humanitarian assistance nor the monitoring of humanitarian pauses is possible amidst active hostilities.
As for the American draft that the United States Permanent Representative was so actively promoting earlier today, as far as we know, it has not even been officially circulated in the Council yet, let alone any substantive discussion. So at this point, all of this looks like an obvious “spoiler” designed to divert attention from yet another shameful American veto of a direly needed resolution on a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip.
We urge Council members not to believe the sly and hypocritical proposals to "wait a little longer". The Security Council and the world have waited five months. Every hour of that wait brings new human sacrifices. The American draft does not call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - it speaks only of a temporary one to take place only when the right conditions emerge. So this American text is not and cannot be any real alternative to the Algerian draft resolution that the United States has vetoed today. It is just another unscrupulous attempt by Washington to delay time in the interests of Israel and give it an opportunity to finally resolve the Palestinian issue. Our common task is to thwart these schemes and achieve a just peace between Israel and Palestine on the basis of the decisions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly. Let us solve it together, and perhaps one day our American colleagues will finally grow a conscience.
Thank you.
